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Credit Suisse Sets up a Wealth Management Team in Thailand

Looking to service wealthy Thais, Credit Suisse has expanded its Thailand operations.

The bank that has had a full-service securities house in Thailand for 16 years, has hired a team of 6 – looking to grow into 12, to target two key client segments – HNW individuals with assets of more than US$2 million (Bt71 million), and UHNW individuals with assets of $50 million, or $250 million in net wealth, of which the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2015, estimates are close to 340 in Thailand.

According to International Investment, Christian Senn, Credit Suisse’s private banking market group head for Thailand, noted that Thai clients are increasingly looking to diversify their domestic wealth through global investments, as the the regulatory policy towards overseas capital flows in the country “continues to evolve”. They also note that in 2014 there were 91,000 Thais with more than US$1m in investable assets.

The new team will be supported by the firm’s regional private banking hub in Singapore, which houses more than 200 investment specialists, and which was in charge of the Thai Wealth Clients until now. With Thailand, Credit Suisse now has an onshore wealth presence in six Asia-Pacific markets.

What Should Keep Investors Up at Night?

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A few months ago, when the already so distant summer of 2015 was coming to a close, we had the opportunity to talk to Art Hogan, MD, Director of Research and Chief Market Strategist at Wunderlich, at an event organized by Dominick & Dominick, a division of Wunderlich Wealth Management, for its Miami clients, regarding investors’ major concerns. We have now resumed that conversation to find out whether those concerns have changed and, if so, how.

On September 9th, 2015, at an event held for Dominic & Dominic clients in Miami, Art Hogan listed investors’ major concerns at that particular time in the following order: What will the Chinese government do to stimulate the economy? (Which had climbed from fourth place to the top of the list); Will there be continuity to the Fed’s policy or not? (An issue which was previously in sixth position); thirdly, an issue concerning valuations, are stocks expensive? The fourth concern was, what effect will geopolitical risks have? And as the last of the concerns in the top five, how will corporate earnings evolve?

Leaving concerns behind, Hogan III shared the good news: GDP growth, corporate earnings for the second quarter and estimates for the third, volume of mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2015, employment growth; the strong recovery in housing sales; the low price of gasoline and electricity, the fact that banks were extending loans, and developments in Europe, which had improved greatly over the previous year.

And how do we stand now? Are the reasons that keep investors up at night still the same, and in the same order? Hogan responds by analyzing each of those topics.

Monetary Policy
Monetary policy is investors’ major concern, given the huge impact which the decisions of some countries have on the economy of others, both overall and on the financial sector, which is crucial for the functioning of the economy. “We must be aware of monetary decisions” as some potential errors could be disruptive, like China “irresponsibly ” devaluing its currency very quickly; another error would be for central banks to consider that negative interest rates help their economies become more competitive, when it has been shown that, at present, they cause the opposite effect; a third would be if the United States acted with undue haste in rising rates in an unstable economy. “It hasn’t done so yet, and I’m less concerned about us being too restrictive than about others being too lenient”. Monetary policy is definitely one of the issues that Hogan recommends we should follow closely.

Commodity Prices in General, and Energy in Particular.
The second major issue is the price of commodities and energy. Emerging economies are dependent on commodity sales to developed economies and, in general, the latter are favored by low prices. But make no mistake, the benefits obtained by developed markets is not as great as the damage suffered by emerging markets, because they need stable prices to grow. Furthermore, Hogan points out that “looking at the prices of commodities and the economy, can lead to the erroneous interpretation that the former are premonitory of the evolution of the latter. It’s an error to believe that if the price per barrel was US$100 18 months ago and $ 36 a month ago, the global economy must be in tatters. It is not always the case.” In fact, the real problem is the imbalance between the excess supply and the demand.

The first steps in the right direction are being taken to reach some agreement, says Hogan, his reasoning being that high prices are in everyone’s interest and there is movement within the sector (Saudi Arabia and Russia have made a first and difficult attempt at communicating, America is slightly reducing its production, Iran- starting to export after years of sanctions- is asked not to increase its production). By pointing out that intentions are not about freezing production altogether, but rather about halting its increase, and carrying out rational negotiations, Hogan makes it clear he does not expect the outlook to change from one day to the next, but he believes we are at the beginning of the path to recovery and invites us to see what happens at the OPEC meeting in June, although he believes there will be preliminary discussions.

China
China may not be investors’ major concern at this time, but it’s still in the Top 3 and, according to Hogan, will remain in the list of concerns for a long time, as it is after all the second largest economy in the world and still undergoing a process of major change. The country is in the throes of a difficult process, from being purely an exporter of inexpensive products produced by cheap labor, to becoming a net consumer at the hands of its emerging middle class. What we do not know is how effective they will be at orchestrating a soft landing -as they are new in what they do and, inevitably and as part of the process, they will make mistakes -or how disruptive this will be if they don’t succeed. They will improve in the process, however, as well as improving their communication.

US Politics
US politics, which although is not usually on his “list” does appear now because it’s in the midst of the electoral process. It is another issue that Art Hogan follows closely. At the start of the primaries, when Trump and Sanders both looked promising, Hogan commented that it was easier to be well positioned for the less moderate candidates, although it is more likely that the more moderate ones finally win the elections. Neither option -Trump, with his protectionist proposal, calling for import taxes on products imported by China, Mexico and Japan, among many other measures, nor Sanders, leaning towards socialism, with anticipation of higher taxes, unfriendly to Wall Street, and planning to spend a lot of money- seems the most “market friendly”. For now, markets are allowing the process to continue and will react when the candidate for each party is known. So, can’t we predict the market reaction to a possible Democrat or Republican victory? “Exactly”, says Hogan, “that will depend on who the candidate is for each of the options. The best performing markets over the past 15 years, regardless of whether the President is either Democrat or Republican, have had either a mixed senate or one with a majority from the president’s opposing party, which balances decisions”.

Geopolitical Risks Abroad
When asked for his opinion on the political situation in other countries, Hogan points out that India is moving in the right direction according to the markets, while Brazil does so in the opposite direction, although because of cycles, “we must monitor the movements well”. His biggest concern in the geopolitical sphere is the low price of commodities and reminds us that the situation in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq. Also, Russia and Saudi Arabia are stable when prices are high, but not so much when the lack of revenue caused by the fall of those commodities begins to cause economic problems within the country.

Europe is another region facing its own challenges, with somewhat distant positions between the EU and the UK. “If the European Union wants to keep the UK among its members, it will have to make some reforms. Its departure could encourage other countries to follow suit and produce great instability in the region. In the short term, the UK must be kept within the European Union,” said Wunderlich’s Research Analyst and Strategist, pointing out that just a few months ago it seemed that Greece could be the first one to exit the EU, and advising not to forget that country. Europe also faces another major challenge which will leave a mark on its future, which is the operational, financial, and economic management of immigration, the resolution of which will not be as fast as decision making in the UK. But there are still other issues outstanding: the establishment of a single monetary policy and stimulating the economy, something to which the strong dollar has contributed towards in recent months, improving competitiveness.

Will There be Contagion?
Another issue that seems to worry the markets, “although I do not share it” is that the slowdown in global economic growth could end up leading developed economies into recession. One of the most frequent conversations these days is whether the slowdown in emerging countries, will end in recession and then cross the border to spread to the United States; the Chief Market Strategist says he still believes that there will be no recession in the United States. “Although it is now more likely than before, the possibility remains at around 20%.” According to Hogan, the US economy is moving in the right direction: the GDP is growing between 2 and 2.5%, and the rate of employment, consumer confidence, car sales, etc. are all increasing. In short, if it does happen, it would be more the result of contagion than of country fundamentals.

Gesconsult’s Most Emblematic Strategies Make the Jump to the International Stage

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Gesconsult recibe luz verde por parte de Luxemburgo: sus estrategias más emblemáticas dan el salto internacional — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: JimmyReu, Flickr, Creative Commons. Gesconsult's Most Emblematic Strategies Make the Jump to the International Stage

Gesconsult has announced the launch of two of its star funds: Gesconsult Renta Fija Flexible and Gesconsult Renta Variable, in the Luxembourg market. This venture is a significant step towards the internationalization of the independent Spanish Asset Management firm specializing in flexible active management in both Spain and Europe.

In this way, Gesconsult aims to continue its growth outside of its home territory. With the approval of the Luxemburg regulators, as of now, these investment strategies are already available for sale not only to national clients but also to international clients.

Juan Lladó, president of Gesconsult, emphasizes that,“we are very proud to announce the leap into Luxembourg and in this way, take our business beyond our borders. Starting now, our strategies are available not only to any investor who does business in Spain, but also to international clients, who had shown interest in investing in our strategies of flexible active management in Spain and Europe. Luxembourg is the most efficient point of entry for many international investors so that they can gain access to local specialized asset management firms”.

The asset management firm has established a master-feeder structure (that is to say, principal-subordinate) in which the core funds will be Spanish and the subordinate ones will be Luxembourgish. The subordinate funds will have a specific classto invest in core funds. This structure makes it possible to maintain the historic excellence of the funds’ profitability and to benefit the participants from the very first moment they join this fund, which already has asset under management.

Gensconsult has decided to launch these vehicles in response to the international investor’s appetite and has plans to continue launching more of its investment strategies on an international level.

“We are convinced that an important part of our growth will come from international business, now that investors are starting to look towards Spain and Europe and there are hardly any active fund management firms that are as specialized as ours. We have a lot to contribute to the investor by boosting our presence in the International asset management industry,” concludes Juan Lladó.

Gesconsult flexible active management strategies beat their rates

The most emblematic Spanish equities fund of the fund management firm is the Gesconsult Renta Variable which has beaten the Ibex 35 in the last few years. Managed by the managing director of Gesconsult, Alfonso de Gregorio, it invests at least 75% of the funds’ asset in Spanish stock exchanges, independently of its capitalization and it can invest up to 10% in foreign companies of OECD. They avoid exposure in emerging markets and see opportunities in the medium and small caps sector.The investment has a long-term vision. It has the highest Morningstar 5-star rating and a qualitative bronze rating.

On the other hand, Gesconsult Renta Fija Flexible fund, managed by the deputy managing director of Gesconsult, David Ardura, is a mixed fixed-income fund which reflects the company’s philosophy of flexible active management, which controls risks in volatile market scenarios. One can invest a maximum of 30% in equities, mainly in the Euro Area, which can be adapted to better market conditions. Its portfolio focuses on Spanish assets and European ones when the environment requires it. Its exposure to equity depends on the economic prospects of the market of the team, and can be completely divested whenever the market circumstances demand it. Management is focused on the medium term.

GAM Acquires Taube Hodson Stonex

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GAM, the pure-play asset manager that owns Julius Baer Funds, is to acquire THS, a global equity investment firm based in the UK, renowned for its successful, thematic, bottom-up and benchmark-agnostic investment approach.

At completion, the THS investment management business will transfer to GAM. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, pending customary regulatory approvals. The investment team, led by the four principals Cato Stonex, Mark Evans, Robert Smithson and Ali Miremadi, will subsequently relocate to the GAM offices in London and their strategies will be marketed under the GAM brand. THS currently manages approximately GBP 1.78 billion of assets (CHF 2.5 billion) as at 31 March 2016

THS has a long track-record managing institutional mandates investing in global and European equities, following a long-term, unconstrained and active investment approach based on proprietary company research. THS has also been the sub-advisor to one of GAM’s oldest global equity strategies, launched in 1983.

Group CEO Alexander Friedman said: “With their proven track-record and deep expertise, the THS team is a great strategic and cultural fit for GAM and we are delighted that they have chosen to join us. We have a multi-decade relationship with the founders and this acquisition is consistent with the growth agenda we set out in 2015, which includes targeting opportunities that substantially deepen our global equity capabilities.”

THS Founding Partner Cato Stonex said: “We are excited to join GAM – one of our oldest clients and a firm with such an impressive track-record as a home for active investors. We think this is an excellent deal for our clients. GAM’s global client network and its operational infrastructure will allow us to remain focused on our investment priorities and to build on our strengths. We look forward to joining the team.”

Free Cash Flow Is King

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No luche contra los mercados de hoy con el dinero de mañana — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Pictures of Money. Don't Fight Today's Markets With Tomorrow's Money

Given the strength of the dollar — though it has weakened some of late — multinational companies have seen their earnings per share pressured. If you compare the EPS growth rate of US-focused companies with that of their multinationally focused counterparts, there is a very wide gap, points out MFS.

According to the firm, US-focused firms are dramatically outperforming their foreign-focused peers. Revenues, profits and margins are still growing, which is something skeptics would not expect in the seventh year of an economic expansion.

“And perhaps even more important than expanding profit margins are expanding free cash flow margins”, explains in its latest analysis.

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“The free cash flow generation of large cap companies, if you strip out energy, materials and industrials, is running near all-time highs. For that reason our outlook for US equities remains strong compared to Japan, where Abenomics does not appear to be working well, and Europe, where labor costs remain persistently high and return on equity is subpar”, write the experts of the firm.

The United States has consistently generated post-dividend free cash flow margins that have exceeded every other region of the world. The composition of the US market — with its emphasis on technology companies and companies that use technology to increase efficiency, its rapid asset turnover and low capital intensity ratio and its use of capital outside the US’s borders as large cap companies globalize — lends itself to robust cash flows that should reward equity investors in 2016, said MFS´ experts.

MFS highlights that in an environment where it exists the possibility of somewhat looser global financial conditions for the foreseeable future, the asset manager is generally more constructive toward higher-risk assets. Equities and high yield debt should be a focus for investors looking to re-risk portfolios, and strong fundamental, bottom-up analysis is critical to that re-risking process.

“Free cash flow generation, which is not a Fed-driven phenomenon, remains the key, and we see that most clearly in US markets”, concludes MFS.

Is China Losing Control of its Economy and Currency?

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According to Chi Lo, Senior Economist, Greater China, Hong Kong at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, concerns that an economic hard landing in China could force Beijing to massively devalue the renminbi have receded since the start of the year but remain in the background. “Such a development would send shockwaves through global financial markets. Some investors continue to wonder whether Beijing is losing control of its economy and currency.” He writes on his blog.

Lo mentions that traditional macroeconomic indicators, such as growth in industrial output, electricity consumption, freight volume and steel and cement output, do paint a hard-landing scenario for China by showing either anaemic growth rates or outright contraction. However, the new economy, represented by the service-based tertiary sector became the largest category of GDP in 2013. “This development suggests to me that creative destruction is underway. The traditional macroeconomic indicators have failed to capture the structural changes. The fact that China is going through a difficult transition from the old to the new economy with some setbacks in financial reforms does not necessarily spell an economic crisis.”

While the new economy is neither large enough nor strong enough to offset the contraction of the old economy, electricity consumption and railway transport have been growing in the new economy. Lo argues that there should be a policy-easing bias until economic momentum stabilises. He also mentions the setbacks in China’s financial reform, “notably the bursting of asset bubbles and a clumsy renminbi policy shift. All this has led to an exodus of capital recently. However, setbacks do not mean crises. Beijing is walking a fine balance between sustaining GDP growth and implementing structural reforms. The resultant creative destruction is dragging on growth and creating volatility. This situation should not be seen as a sign of Beijing losing control of the economy.”

What about the currency? Some market players have used the Impossible Trinity theorem to argue that with capital fleeing China, it is not going to be possible to maintain a stable renminbi and ease monetary policy at the same time. If Beijing wants to cut interest rates to stabilise domestic GDP growth, it would have to allow a sharp devaluation in the currency, the pessimists argue.

“However, the application of the Impossible Trinity analysis to China is flawed. I do not see signs of capital flight. Otherwise, one should have seen a significant depletion in domestic deposits, which has not been the case. More crucially, the Impossible Trinity is not as pressing a constraint on China as many have claimed. Despite the seemingly big strides that China has taken in recent years, its capital account is still relatively closed. Most of the liberalisation measures have been aimed at institutional and official institutions’ investments. Beijing has only been opening up the capital account in an asymmetric fashion by allowing capital inflows but still restricting capital outflows.”

Sure, China lost about USD 700 billion in currency reserves last year, despite a surplus in its basic surplus (current account balance + net foreign direct investment inflows). But a big chunk of the decline came from the valuation effect, Chinese companies repaying their foreign debt and a one-time transfer to recapitalise the policy banks (three new “policy” banks, the Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC), China Development Bank (CDB), and the Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim), were established in 1994 to take over the government-directed spending functions of the four state-owned commercial banks). “There is no denial that there are capital outflows from China, but they do not signify Beijng losing control of the renminbi. Since there is still no full capital account convertibility, China’s monetary policy will only be partly compromised if the People’s Bank of China wants to keep the control of the renminbi in the medium-term.” Lo concludes.

“In EM Corporate Debt, We Continue to See Opportunities across Various Sectors Especially in LatAm”

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"En deuda corporativa emergente, vemos oportunidades especialmente en Latinoamérica" — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrNish Popat, co-lead Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Corporate Debt team, Neuberger Berman.. "In EM Corporate Debt, We Continue to See Opportunities across Various Sectors Especially in LatAm"

Nish Popat, co-lead Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Corporate Debt team, at Neuberger Berman, explains in this interview with Funds Society why is a good moment to invest in emerging debt and why he is looking at opportunities in corporate debt in Latin America, as well as in Government debt in countries like like Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Hungary, Ivory Coast and Indonesia. In currencies, they currently have a long bias with overweight positions in the Indian rupee, Turkish lira and some Latin-American currencies, such as the Mexican, Chilean and Colombian peso.

Emerging markets have been almost reviled by investors in recent years. Is this situation changing, especially in the debt market?

Many investors have, over the past couple of years, been under-allocating their exposure to EM funds as several concerns about China/Brazil/ global slowdown/ commodities and oil & gas and the FED raising rates have all contributed to concerns about Emerging Markets, especially currencies. Over the past two months, as many of these factors have stabilised, we have begun to see strong inflows into Emerging Market Debt, mostly in hard currency but also positive flows in local currency.

What kind of investor is beginning to reinvest in emerging markets?

In the past few years most of the outflows from the asset class seemed to be coming from retail investors. This year, however, we are seeing inflows into EMD from both institutional and retail investors.

Are we currently seeing a good entry point at present?

Pressures on EMD fundamentals are starting to ease amidst a stabilisation in commodity prices and supportive monetary policies globally, while the sharp EM FX depreciation has resulted in current account adjustments in several EM countries. Sufficient FX reserves and low external debt levels continue to support Sovereign structural fundamentals, while elevated spread levels are now more than adequate to compensate for cyclical risks. Finally we see supportive technical at present as well, as investor demand is returning from generally underweight positions, while supply of new issues is relatively light. We believe that overall these factors justify an allocation to the asset class and we have increased risk across our blended EMD portfolios this year as we believe that those positive developments counterbalance the fundamental challenges that some EM countries are still facing.

How will EMD be affected by any Fed rate hikes? What do you expect from Janet Yellen?

The market was certainly impacted when the initial fears of a Fed hike emerged in 2013. Since then, we have seen how cautious the Fed has been in managing the markets fears to the speed and extent of that rise, that when it occurred the market virtually discounted the whole event and so it had virtually no impact on the EM asset class. We continue to believe that the Fed will be very cautious in their approach and at present see the impact on the EMD asset class as having been already priced in.

Is this a reason to favour short durations? What are the advantages of shorter duration in the portfolio?

The main advantage of a short duration approach is the more conservative risk profile with lower volatility and drawdowns, coupled with protection in case interest rates surge at some point. While we believe that this approach can be attractive for investors who are looking for a more conservative, absolute return approach to EMD, we acknowledge that such a strategy typically doesn’t fully capture the upside that the longer duration strategy offers in a rallying market.

Are you now taking increased credit risk or it is not necessary?

We have, over the past few weeks increased our overall risk appetite in the EM universe as we continue to believe that many investors remain under-weight and the stability of the various concerns suggests that the premiums offered by EM issuers were too high in light of the falling risk. We continue to be positive and expect the momentum to continue as the message from developed market central banks remains supportive to risk assets.

Is it possible to find quality investments (IG) in public and corporate debt in EM with good profitability?

Many IG companies in the EM world have continued to make profits, however these are lower than they were in the past as the slowdown in their economies or sectors has an overall impact on their bottom line. We have seen many companies actively manage the situation and expect that while profitability will be lower than 2015, many companies are dealing with the changing global environment better than many investors had anticipated.

What countries (government bonds) and sectors and enterprises (private debt) do you favour?

In EM corporate debt, we continue to see opportunities across various sectors especially in LatAm where many issuers suffered dramatically in 2015 as valuations reached levels which we believe were excessive even though many corporates are going through a difficult period at present. Going forward, we continue to believe that demand for yield will be key in investors’ minds as the Fed and the ECB continue to provide dovish comments and we believe that the momentum for EM corporates remains strong.

In sovereign (government) debt we like Azerbaijan and Ecuador which we think sold off excessively on the oil price move, and we like countries that have been and continue to be on an improving credit quality path which we currently see in Hungary, Ivory Coast and Indonesia.

Is now a good time to take on currency risk or not?

We have become more constructive on EM FX exposure based on improving export growth and current accounts, while valuations and technicals are supportive as well. We currently have a long bias with overweight positions in the Indian rupee, Turkish lira and some Latin-American currencies, such as the Mexican, Chilean and Colombian peso.

Volatility has been strong in recent months, also due to the Chinese theme and commodities. Will this persist? Does that present a need for caution or a chance to seize the opportunity?

The “fear” factor at the end of 2015/ beginning of 2016 has certainly been one of the key reasons why many investors were nervous about investing in the EM asset class over the past year, combined with the increase in volatility as many countries were being downgraded and the China slowdown was certainly a major factor. Over the last 3 months, we have seen how this fear has, for now, diminished dramatically and returns in the asset class have been very strong. Certainly in the short term we see the positive momentum continuing, however the EM world is made up of many countries and companies and accordingly, while there may be issues in one region, the diversity of the asset class enables another part of the world to benefit and accordingly we have seen how resilient the asset class has been over the past years in light of the various issues that have arisen. It is important that investors look at EM on a longer term horizon and while in the short term there may be some headline risks, if we look at the asset class over the past 10 years, we have seen it return a very solid positive annualised return.

Advent International Appoints Enrique Pani as Mexico City Managing Director

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Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, announced that Enrique Pani has joined the firm as a Managing Director in its Mexico City office. Enrique Pani will work alongside Luis Solórzano, head of Mexico for Advent, and 12 other investment professionals in the office. Advent has the largest dedicated private equity team in Latin America, with 41 investment professionals working from offices in Mexico City, Bogotá and São Paulo.

Prior to joining Advent, Enrique Pani was a Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Mexico at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML). There he was responsible for managing the investment banking coverage and execution team based in Mexico City and was also a member of the BAML Management Committee.

Enrique Pani started his career as an equity research analyst and has over 20 years of investment banking experience in Mexico and New York. He established and was responsible for investment banking operations in Mexico at Deutsche Bank, BTG Pactual and, most recently, BAML. He has advised clients in the financial services, healthcare, retail and infrastructure sectors across Latin America and has raised more than USD 20 billion in capital for his clients.

“Enrique is a great addition to our firm as his broad experience and deep relationships in a number of our target sectors will benefit Advent as we continue to build on the local team’s achievements”, said Luis Solórzano, a Managing Director and Head of Mexico for Advent. “We have a 20-year presence in Mexico and continue to believe it is an attractive market for private equity. We look forward to welcoming Enrique to the team.”

Since opening its Mexico City office in 1996, Advent’s local team has invested in 25 companies in Mexico, the Caribbean and other Latin American and global markets. The team focuses on buyouts and growth equity investments in the firm’s five core sectors: business and financial services; healthcare; industrial, including infrastructure; retail, consumer and leisure, including education; and technology, media and telecom. Recent Mexican investments include; Viakem, a Mexico-based manufacturer of fine chemicals for the global agrochemical industry; Grupo Financiero Mifel, a Mexican mid-sized bank serving the mass-affluent retail segment and small and medium-sized companies; and InverCap Holdings, a Mexican mandatory pension fund manager.

“Advent is one of the leading private equity firms in Latin America, and I am excited to begin working with Luis and the team in Mexico as well as with Advent professionals throughout the region and worldwide,” said Enrique Pani. “Advent has a differentiated approach to investing and building value in Latin American companies, and I believe my prior experience and existing relationships will be quite complementary to this large and talented group.”

In the 20 years it has been operating in Latin America, Advent has raised more than USD 6 billion for investment in the region from institutional investors globally, including USD 2.1 billion raised in 2014 forLAPEF VI. LAPEF VI is the largest private equity fund ever raised for the region. Since 1996, the firm has invested in over 50 Latin American companies and fully realized its positions in 35 of those businesses.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments Appoints Kath Cates as Non-Executive Director

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Columbia Threadneedle Investments nombra a Kath Cates como directora no ejecutiva — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Kath Cates. Columbia Threadneedle Investments Appoints Kath Cates as Non-Executive Director

Columbia Threadneedle Investments announces the appointment of Kath Cates to the Board of Threadneedle Asset Management Holdings Sarl (effective 10 May) and the Board of Threadneedle Investment Services Limited (effective 29 March), as a Non- Executive Director.

Ms Cates is also a Non-Executive Director of RSA Insurance Group Plc, where she Chairs the Board Risk Committee and is a member of the Group Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee. In addition, she is a Non-Executive Director of Brewin Dolphin, where she chairs the Board Risk Committee and is a member of the Group Audit Committee.

Ms Cates’ most recent executive role was Global Chief Operating Officer for Standard Chartered Bank, a position based in Singapore which she held until 2013. In this role she led the Risk, IT, Operations, Legal and Compliance, Human Resources, Strategy, Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing functions across 60 countries. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Ms Cates spent over 20 years at UBS, most recently in the Zurich-based role of Global Head of Compliance. For the previous 10 years she was based in Hong Kong, as APAC General Counsel and then as Regional Operating Officer.

Ms Cates earned a First Class Honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales before specialising in financial services.

Tim Gillbanks, Interim Regional Head, EMEA at Columbia Threadneedle Investments said: “I’m pleased to welcome Kath to Columbia Threadneedle. She brings valuable financial services experience particularly in the areas of risk management, governance and regulation and operational excellence. We look forward to working with Kath and to the benefit of her contribution to our business.”

Capital Group Launches Flagship US Equity Strategy, Investment Company of America, for European Investors

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Capital Group, an active investment management firm with US$1.4 trillion of assets under management, has announced that it plans to launch its longest-established strategy, Investment Company of America (ICA), in Europe. Consistent with the plan announced in 2015 to provide European investors access to some of its most successful investment strategies, and following the launch of Capital Group New Perspective Fund (LUX) last year, Capital Group will make its flagship strategy from the US available to European investors in June 2016.

ICA will be launched in Europe as a Luxembourg-domiciled fund (UCITS) and will follow the same active, time-tested investment approach that has proved successful for more than 80 years. The new fund will be managed by the same investment team that manages the US strategy. Since its launch in 1934, the Capital Group ICA strategy has achieved a return of 12.9% per annum, compared with 10.7% for the S&P 500.

“The strategy’s research-driven, fundamental investment philosophy has remained consistent for eight decades with long-term investment horizons, valuation discipline and a focus on seasoned companies with an emphasis on future dividends. This has provided growth over different market cycles and has typically offered downside protection in depressed or volatile market conditions,” said Richard Carlyle, Investment Director.

“The ICA strategy can therefore be an attractive option for investors looking for long-term active exposure to US equities as part of a core equity portfolio, or looking to manage downside risk versus a passive investment approach.”

Hamish Forsyth, European President of Capital Group Companies Global, said “This new fund launch represents a further stage in our strategic plan to make available the best of Capital to European investors and to support the growth of our business activities across the region. We have had a very positive reaction from both institutions and financial intermediaries for our Capital Group New Perspective Fund (LUX), and believe that providing European investors with access to one of our largest and longest-standing strategies provides an important next step in this process.”

Capital Group has been serving investors in Europe since 1962, when the company opened its first ex-US office in Geneva. Capital Group employs more than 500 associates in Europe. It has offices and sales branches in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan and Zurich.