Foto: LinkedIn / Foto de Londres de Jack Torcello. Chris Justice, nuevo COO y responsable de Janus para el mercado europeo
According to Investment Europe, Janus Capital International, the international arm of Janus Capital. has appointed Chris Justice as Chief Operating Officer and head of Europe.
Based in London, Justice will develop and execute Janus Capital International’s business strategy across EMEA working with Jamie Wong and Sylvain Agar, Heads of Institutions, and of Financial Intermediaries, EMEA.
Up until now Justice was Head of Strategic Initiatives for APAC and EMEA from Hong Kong. He will continue to report to Augustus Cheh, President of Janus Capital International.
Prior to joining Janus in 2013, Justice was managing director of Quam (Hong Kong) Ltd, where he led a team of research analysts and asset managers providing non-discretionary portfolio advice to high net worth and retail investors.
As of December 31, 2015, Janus Capital International had $42.4bn (€38.6bn) in assets under management.
At the end of 2015, Janus Capital group’s global assets totalled $192.3bn (€175bn), of which Janus Capital International represented 22% of total global assets up from 8% in 2010.
Foto: Davesag, Flickr, Creative Commons. BNP Paribas IP recibe el premio de Agefi a la innovación por su ETF de empresas europeas con bajas emisiones de CO2
THEAM, BNP Paribas Investment Partners’ (BNPP IP’s) manager of index-based investment solutions), has won the 2016 Innovation Award at Agefi’s Grands Prix des ETF for its BNP Paribas Easy Low Carbon 100 Europe® UCITS ETF. It received the award, which recognises leading ETF (exchange-traded fund) innovation in the equity category, on 11 February, at the second edition of the Grands Prix des ETF. The event was organised by French business and financial periodical Agefi in tandem with TrackInsight, the ETF analysis platform.
This award recognises the pioneering role played by BNPP IP, which in 2008 became the first investment management company to launch a Low Carbon ETF. Benchmarked to the Low Carbon 100 Europe® index, BNP Paribas Easy Low Carbon 100 Europe® UCITS ETF replicates the performance of 100 major European companies with the lowest CO2 emissions in their respective sectors.
This award demonstrates the innovative capability of BNPP IP, which helped modify the methodology of the Low Carbon 100 Europe® index, alongside Euronext and Carbone4, in November 2015. It is now possible to identify companies that make a positive contribution to the energy transition, whether through their operating performance or through the products sold to clients. This Low Carbon index fund combines responsible investment and a diversified exposure to European equities. Investing in this Low Carbon ETF means investing in a portfolio with half the CO2 emissions of the companies in a traditional Europe index.
This award underscores BNPP’s long-standing commitment to a low-carbon economy. After signing the Montreal Carbon Pledge in May 2015, implementing a carbon-linked investment policy, signing up to the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition and publishing the carbon footprint of equity funds in its Parvest line in November 2015, BNPP IP has again demonstrated its ability to innovate and play a pioneering role in low-carbon investments.
Frédéric Janbon, Chief Executive Officer of BNPP IP, comments: “We are very happy to have received this award, which illustrates our commitment to responsible investment. Our many initiatives in recent years allow us to offer our clients, both institutional and retail, a broad selection of investment solutions based on our research and innovation.”
Denis Panel, Chief Executive Officer of THEAM, adds: “The Low Carbon ETF helps fund energy transition by directing investments to companies that are the most active in reducing CO2 emissions and that make the biggest contribution to limiting global warming to less than two degrees.”
Anthony Attia, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euronext Paris, comments: “We congratulate BNP Paribas Investment Partners on this award, which illustrates that the new version of the Low Carbon 100 Europe® index and its related tracker were very well received. Innovation lies at the heart of offering investors index products that measure companies’ environmental performance.”
Liquid alternatives in a UCITS format are attracting interest from a wider range of investors, including insurers and pension funds, as a way to meet the transparency edicts of Solvency ll.
Cerulli Associates‘ report entitled European Alternative Products and Strategies 2016: Opportunity Knocks in the New Era finds that institutional investors are turning to retail-style alternative products as a cost-effective means to address regulatory pressure and to bridge the yield gap created by low-performing debt holdings.
More than 86% of asset managers surveyed by the global analytics firm predict an increase in demand for alternative UCITS funds over the next two years. Products with the UCITS stamp of approval are enticing conservative institutions in France and Germany into alternatives, as well as insurers EU-wide following the introduction of Solvency II.
In addition, hedge fund managers interviewed by Cerulli said that, although there had been fewer requests for UCITS products among institutional clients in the past 12 months when compared with offshore, AIFMD-branded alternative investment funds, and segregated accounts, they expected UCITS to be, along with offshore, the most likely format for new fund launches over the next two years.
“What was once the preserve of global and regional private banks is of increasing interest to continental institutions as well as EU insurers more generally,” says Tony Griffiths, senior analyst at Cerulli and co-author of the report. “One Swiss hedge fund manager told us it was surprised to find interest in the UCITS versions of its products among Swedish and Finnish institutions–two of Europe’s bigger buyers of offshore funds,” he adds.
Alternative beta -or risk premia- productsare also being sought, and implemented, by institutional clients as a cost-effective, liquid, and flexible means of securing portfolio diversification and achieving similar returns to hedge funds; a move that is stretching the definition of “alternatives”.
“The balance of power is shifting to the investor,” says Justina Deveikyte, senior analyst at Cerulli and co-author of the report. “Lingering dissatisfaction with offshore hedge funds-sluggish performance, high fees, and minimal opacity -has influenced the rise in demand for alternative beta products,” she adds.
A number of alternative asset managers and hedge fund houses across Europe are evaluating or have already developed alternative beta strategies, while others are quite skeptical. There has been an increase in launches by alternative asset managers as they seek to meet growing demand and diversify business. This will invite greater scrutiny of performance.
Erste AM has announced the appointment of Winfried Buchbauer as new Board Member. The management board of EAM will now consist of Heinz Bednar, CEO, Christian Schön and Winfried Buchbauer.
Buchbauer, who is 51, will be in charge of the areas of Risk Management and Back Office. As an executive director he will cover the market support functions of the company. Hehas a proven track record as a legal counselor in the financial service industry. In his last position as division head with EAM, he was in charge of the Legal department, Human Resources, Network & Project Management, and the Communications department. Furthermore, since January 2016 Winfried Buchbauer is a member of the management board of RINGTURM KAG, a subsidiary of EAM.
EAM coordinates and is responsible for the asset management activities within Erste Group. In Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia EAM manages assets of 55.8 billion Euros (as of Dec 2015).
Foto: Phillip Pessar
. Nanette Aguirre se une al consejo de Florida Alternative Investment Association
Veteran attorney Nanette Aguirre of Greenberg Traurig, who focuses her practice on derivatives and structured financial products, has joined the board of the Florida Alternative Investment Association (FAIA), announced Michael Corcelli, chairman and founder of the Miami-based organization.
“Nanette brings years of experience in negotiating all forms of international derivatives, trading and prime brokerage deals with global institutions,” said Corcelli, who is chief investment officer of Alexander Alternative Capital of Miami. “She is a frequent adviser on regulatory issues affecting the market, including cross-border regulations and Dodd-Frank.”
Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig’s office in New York as a shareholder, Aguirre worked for a major New York law firm in its structured products and derivatives department. She worked closely with some of the industry’s largest hedge funds, mutual fund and pension plans.
Over the years, she has structured and negotiated finance and derivative transactions, including Indian and Chinese swaps, and credit and fund-linked derivatives, loan, credit default and equity swaps. She also negotiates exchange traded derivative agreements, repurchase, securities lending and electronic trading agreements, and tri-party and give-up arrangements.
She works throughout Latin America, including Mexico and Colombia, where she advised banks, endowments, clearing organizations and other financial institutions.
Admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, Aguirre earned her J.D. from Rutgers Law School and her B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business.
Prior to entering the legal field, she developed expertise in derivatives with Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Bros.
The German receivables exchange Debitos is now offering a new trading segment on its online auction portal: From now on it’s even easier to sell claims against insolvent companies to the highest bidder. On the site creditors and investors have a direct overview of current company insolvencies whose receivables are being searched or traded on the Debitos online exchange. At Debitos alone some €1.3 billion of private capital from German and international investors is waiting for offers from sellers.
In most insolvencies the creditors have to wait for several years before finding out how much their claims are still really worth. So it often makes sense to sell claims to the highest bidder as quickly as possible, rather than leaving non-performing capital on the books. But how to find the best price and a solvent buyer? At the receivables exchange claims against insolvent companies can be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Since the online exchange started up in late 2012 more than 1,000 creditors, including several Landesbanks, have sold non-performing loans (NPL) valued at more than one billion euros via Debitos.
Claims against insolvent companies are one type of what are known as “distressed assets”. There is a large international market for this kind of investment – a market with risks, but interesting prospects too.
Last year already saw the first auctions on the site involving significant volumes of claims against companies like Prokon and KirchMedia. “We are seeing great interest in this segment”, says Timur Peters, managing director of Debitos, explaining why it is being expanded. “In Germany it takes an average of four years to wind up an insolvent company. The outcome is often uncertain and capital is tied up all the time”, says Peters. “So it is logical that we are paying more attention to this segment, because it provides much-needed liquidity directly.”
Sellers at Debitos can set a minimum price and then watch how investors place bids for the receivables in the online marketplace – the highest bid wins. All that is required to register a seller are the contact details of an authorised representative, a valid company address, VAT ID and a valid email address. Then the company details are verified to ensure that the information provided is correct. The competent Debitos team takes care of preparing the documentation for the auction. For banks and other companies the presence of currently some 350 specialised investors from all over Europe represents a real incentive to offer their outstanding receivables from a range of insolvencies for sale. Investors registered on the exchange consist mainly of banks, funds, debt collection agencies and lawyers.
Foto: m.shattock
. Los gestores activos están más amenazados por el potencial de crecimiento de las estrategias de beta estratégica que los pasivos
The growth of strategic beta assets will continue to strain active managers’ ability to retain assets, according to new research “U.S. Evolution of Passive and Strategic Beta Investing 2016: Opportunities for Asset Managers and Indexers” from Cerulli Associates.
“Strategic beta represents the middle ground on the active to passive spectrum-it can be viewed as a hybrid approach,” states Jennifer Muzerall, associate director at the firm. “The subjective assumptions made about the investment strategy lend itself more to an active strategy, but its rules-based and transparent implementation exhibits characteristics similar to those of passive.”
Growth of strategic beta assets will continue as more investors begin to understand the benefits of implementing strategic beta products into their portfolios, such as the potential to reduce portfolio risk and enhance returns while benefitting from a cost savings compared to active management.
“Over the next decade, strategic beta may influence a new way of thinking about the baseline for passive investing,” Muzerall explains. “Strategic beta development raises the bar for active managers and their ability to generate alpha. Active asset managers are begrudgingly moving into strategic beta because they continue to see outflows from active products. While new money may feed strategic beta products, asset managers express concerns that offering strategic beta may cannibalize assets from existing active products.”
“On the other hand, passive managers see strategic beta as an opportunity to offer differentiated, higher-fee products, a departure from the highly competitive commoditized passive business,” Muzerall continues. This leads to the question, who should be more concerned-active or passive managers? “Cerulli believes active managers are more threatened by the potential growth of strategic beta compared to most passive managers.”
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has published its latest quarterly statistical release which describes the trends in the European investment fund industry during the fourth quarter of 2015, and the results for the year 2015.
2015 was a record year for the European investment fund industry. Net sales of European investment funds rose to an all-time high of EUR 725 billion in 2015 and assets under management broke through to EUR 12 trillion thanks for a growth rate of 11%.
Further highlights on the developments in 2015 include:
Investment fund assets in Europe increased by 11.3% to EUR 12,581 billion. Overall, net assets of UCITS increased by 13% to EUR 8,168 billion. Net assets of AIF increased by 8.3% to EUR 4,412 billion.
Net sales of UCITS reached EUR 573 billion. Demand for UCITS reached its highest level ever in 2015.
Long-term UCITS enjoyed a record year. Long-term UCITS recorded net inflows of EUR 496 billion, compared to EUR 479 billion in 2014.
Multi-asset funds attracted the largest net inflows (EUR 236 billion) as the broad market, asset class and sector diversification offered by balanced funds attract investors.
Equity funds recorded the best year for net sales since 2000 (EUR 134 billion) as investors remained overall confident in the economic outlook for Europe and the willingness of the ECB maintain its accommodative monetary stance to support activity.
Bond funds recorded lower net sales (EUR 83 billion) compared to 2014 against the background of a reversal in bond yields and the associated uncertainty concerning the evolution of the bond market.
Money market funds saw a turnaround in net flows, ending the year with positive net inflows (EUR 77 billion) for the first time since 2008.
Net sales of AIF reached EUR 152 billion, compared to EUR 149 billion in 2014.
Bernard Delbecque, Director of Economics and Research at EFAMA, commented: “The growth of fund assets has been substantially positive across Europe, with a very few exceptions, confirming investor confidence in UCITS and AIF.”
Signs of economic slowdown are increasing worldwide. This is the view of Guy Wagner, Chief Investment Officer at Banque de Luxembourg, and his team, published in their monthly analysis, ‘Highlights’.
Apart from weakness in the manufacturing sector, services activities are also starting to be affected, despite the favorable effects of falling oil prices on consumer purchasing power. “According to official advance estimates, US GDP slowed to 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015, due to a dearth of corporate investments and a slowdown in consumer spending. Most economic indicators also tended to deteriorate in other regions,” Guy Wagner adds.
January was a particularly difficult month for equity markets
January was a particularly difficult month for equity markets. The ongoing weakness of oil prices and increasing signs of economic slowdown heightened investors’ aversion to risk. The S&P 500 in the United States, the Stoxx 600 in Europe, the Topix in Japan and the MSCI Emerging Markets (in USD) all lost ground. “The financial sector was particularly shaky due to prospects of deterioration in companies’ capacities to service their debt following the slump in commodity prices and the economic slowdown,” says Guy Wagner. “Given current zero interest rates, the difficulty the central banks would have in responding to a major economic downturn makes equity markets vulnerable.”
Key interest rates unchanged in the United States and Europe
Having raised the fed funds interest rate by 25 basis points in December, the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at its January meeting. According to Guy Wagner, “Higher volatility on the financial markets and increasing signs of economic slowdown worldwide have reduced the probability of further monetary tightening in the coming months.” In Europe, ECB president Mario Draghi hinted at the introduction of further monetary stimulus at the Bank’s next meeting in March to combat low inflation.
No concessions on company quality
“In Europe, economic statistics continue to surpass low expectations, but in absolute terms the pace of growth is flagging.” Active management within asset classes, especially equities, is therefore all the more vital. “While the economic and financial environment remains weak, it is particularly important not to make concessions in terms of the quality of the companies in which you invest,” concludes Guy Wagner.
Standard Life Investments warns investors should expect another year of volatile outcomes in global credit markets, with further dispersion in regional performance.
In February’s Global Outlook, Craig MacDonald, Head of Credit for Standard Life Investments, has used a number of indicators to assess where investors are in the credit cycle, including trends in bank lending standards, corporate leverage levels, and the flatness of government yield curves.
MacDonald said: “Although credit markets came under general pressure last year, there was still considerable dispersion in regional performance and investment grade debt which provided selective opportunities for savvy investors. European high yield outperformed US high yield; Sterling investment grade outperformed Euro investment grade, and Asian emerging market credit was actually a strong performer despite global concerns over China.”
“However, there has been a weak and much more correlated start to 2016. Bank lending standards have tightened in emerging markets, and there are nascent signs of tightening in the US, although European lending is still loosening. Corporate leverage is relatively high in the investment grade sector, but remains lower than during the 1990s once the energy and commodity sectors are stripped out. Finally, although yield curves have flattened, they are still steeper than has been associated with previous recessions. While defaults have risen, this is only from historically low levels and they are generally a lagging, not leading, indicator.”
US high yield was one of the worst performing credit markets in 2015 with a -5% return. Almost 50% of bonds produced negative returns and a number entered distressed levels. Just over 20% of US high yield names are in energy and commodities and therefore vulnerable to the fall in commodity prices. Distress has also been seen in retail and telecommunications, however, yields have widened out to 9%, leading to selective opportunities.
“In US investment grade, good-quality issuers now look cheap and while we are avoiding some of the smaller regional US banks with over-exposure to commodities, it is a different story for the large banks such as JP Morgan, which have strong balance sheets with low book exposure to commodities. Another source of market worry has been emerging markets (EM). However, Russian corporate credit had a very strong performance in 2015 despite Russia’s myriad of problems. And Chinese credit outperformed, particularly property bonds. The lesson is that there are opportunities as well as risks in EM credit. The upshot is that we expect another year of volatility in credit markets, and believe the risk of recession is lower than the market is pricing in. This is an environment of selective opportunities. In high yield during 2015, our funds benefited from a reduced exposure to the most risky CCC rated debt, but it is still too early to reverse this positon despite the wider yields on offer, says MacDonald.”
