CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Paul Wilkinson
. Monaco to Examine Draft Law on Multi Family Offices
The national council of Monaco, the Principality’s parliament, is to examine a draft law on multi family offices’ activity in Monaco.
It points out that if single family offices have been run for years in Monaco, multi family offices which have started to flourish in recent years in the Principality remain unregulated so far in the country.
The further law will then provide a regulatory framework to the business.
Moreover, it seeks to promote Monaco as a centre of excellence for family offices, pursuing therefore Monaco’s government plan that aims to make the country more attractive to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs.
Among compliance obligations enshrined in the draft law, multi family offices conducting financial transactions will have to be granted a license by Monaco’s state minister and will be subject to regulatory approval by Monaco’s financial authority, the Commission de contrôle des activités financières (CCAF).
Also multi family offices in Monaco will have to be structured in Monegasque public limited companies (Société anonyme monégasque).
Michael Roberge, MFS’ CIO and co-CEO, was recently in Miami where he met with more than 120 investors in two events organized by Jose Corena, Managing Director for the aforementioned management company, together with Paul Britto, Regional Director, and Natalia Rodriguez, Internal Wholesaler.
Roberge, who has been working with the company for the past 20 years, began his review of the global macroeconomic and business landscape by emphasizing the huge disconnect between what markets are discounting and the realities of the economy. The current environment is much more favorable than a year ago, because, according to MFS’ co-CEO, market downturns have led to more attractive entry prices. “It is undeniable that there are risks. A year ago the markets were calm and everyone was buying, even though all asset classes were overvalued,” he pointed out.
But the fear factor currently extending through the market is not so much a concern over valuations, but is more focused on the possibility of a recession on the horizon. For Roberge, even if the market discount rate reflects a scenario of great pessimism, the United States will not fall into recession in 2016.
“Consumption accounts for seventy percent of US GDP, and its health is enviable. The unemployment rate is declining and heading towards 4%; real wages are rising by about 2-2.5%; and the price of energy has fallen considerably in the last 18 months — which for the consumer’s disposable income is comparable to a tax cut” he claimed.
“US manufacturing, which accounts for about 10% of the overall economy, is underperforming the consumer-oriented sectors of the US economy,” he said. “This is due to both a stronger dollar, which hurts exports, as well as a clean-up of accumulated inventories during the past year. Once these inventories have been depleted, it is likely that the manufacturing sector will not continue to be a drag on GDP growth.”
Finally, Roberge said that the public sector, which in recent years has either been neutral or has had a negative contribution, will contribute between 0.6% and 0.7% to GDP growth in 2016 through a combination of tax cuts and increased spending. “In short, the US economy is in good shape. Doing the math, it seems highly unlikely that the US goes into recession unless an exogenous factor which significantly affects consumer confidence takes place,” he explained to attendees. The factors which could affect consumption are gasoline prices and interest rates, neither of which appears to be going up this year.
Global Growth
With respect to global growth, a stronger US dollar helps Europe, as it favors exporters, and ultimately its manufacturing sector. The MFS executive believes this will last throughout 2016. He also believes the Old Continent is benefiting greatly from low energy prices. For its part, Japan is not likely to contribute in any great measure to global growth this year. Finally, emerging markets are expected to be the part of the world that will continue to deteriorate in 2016. “Continued pressure from China means they will grow, but less than last year. If we look at the world as a whole, I think there is a very low probability of falling into recession. It is the market which is mistaken and not the fundamentals of the economy,” he said.
With all of this on the table, MFS’ advice for investors is to consider equities over high quality bonds. The reason, he said, is very simple. The average dividend yield currently stands at 2.4%, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury is 2%. So unless the economy falls into recession, “which is something we do not believe will happen, it is better to have an emphasis on equities, given the current lack of profitability in the bond market.”
Limited Opportunities in Fixed Income
Among the few opportunities currently offered by fixed income securities, Roberge mentioned the high yield bond market, where the average yield is around 9%. “It will probably beat equities this year,” therefore, he believes it’s a good idea to include this asset in a portfolio. “We believe that the market is being a lot more pessimistic about high yield market conditions than our own vision of what will really happen. The key factors here are volatility and liquidity, two factors which are of great concern, but the market has already discounted both of those risks. This year, high yield should perform much better than US Treasuries and, in our opinion, also much better than stocks.”
MFS’ co-CEO also opts for dollar-denominated emerging market debt, and explains that “during the last five or six years, we have seen a flattening in the debt curve of developed countries, due to the slowdown in growth and the monetary policies of central banks, and we believe that the next debt cycle will favor emerging markets. We prefer debt issued in dollars because local currencies are still exposed to risk from China, to the price risk of raw materials, and to what the Fed does throughout the year,” he added.
The market is expecting the Fed to raise interest rates again in March, but MFS does not believe that will be the case. Roberge ventures that the board headed by Janet Yellen will go easy. “It is likely that this time it may be the Fed which moves the market and not vice versa. It will be difficult for the board to raise interest rates since the major central banks in the developed world continue easing monetary policy due to global deflationary pressures. Therefore, we do not see the Fed raising rates four times this year, and have positioned our portfolios accordingly,” he said.
In his analysis of Latin American countries, MFS’ co-CEO explained that there is dollar-denominated Mexican debt in their portfolios, and Argentine debt has recently been added as a result of the political changes brought about by recent elections. With respect to Venezuela, given political circumstances and the price of oil, the Boston-based firm believes that at some point it will have to restructure its debt because its current levels are unsustainable.
“Brazil has a lot of challenges,” he said. “The economy is stagnant, inflation is high, and the central bank has little room for maneuver; added to all this is the political turmoil as a result of corruption exposed during the last year. These factors make it almost impossible to implement the reforms which the country needs.”
MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has appointed Mark Catalano as Executive Director of the Business Development team.
Mark will be responsible for driving new client engagement in the Americas with MUFG Investor Services’ asset servicing solutions. These solutions include fund administration, middle-office outsourcing, custody, depository, trustee, fund of hedge fund financing, FX and wider banking services.
Mark will report into John Sergides, managing director of Global Head of Business Development & Marketing.
Formerly Head of US Business Development at Atlas Fund Services, Mark brings a wealth of experience in understanding the needs of alternative investment managers and the solutions required to support their growth ambitions. He was previously director, product & business development, alternative fund services, at Deutsche Bank, and prior to that, held positions at Fidelity Investments and Arthur Andersen LLP.
John Sergides, managing director, global head of Business Development & Marketing commented: “Mark’s appointment is a key hire in our strategy to grow organically and continue providing best in-class asset servicing solutions for clients. His expertise and understanding of the Americas market underpin our growth plans over the coming years. Mark has a proven track record of growth and deep knowledge of the alternative investment space.
Mark Catalano, executive director, Business Development Americas said: “Joining MUFG Investor Services provides an exciting opportunity to share my experience in a team that already demonstrates deep industry knowledge and a commitment to exceptional client service. I look forward to helping MUFG Investor Services achieve its growth plans by partnering with clients throughout the investment lifecycle.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Keith Ney, Fixed Income Fund Manager at Carmignac. Keith Ney, Fund Manager at Carmignac, Will Analyze The Challenges of The Fixed Income Markets at The Funds Selector Summit in Miami
After a secular bull market lasting 30 years, fixed income is now facing a challenging phase. Following a long period of monetary policies that have kept interest rates low in the United States, the Federal Reserve appears to have embarked on a normalization process. By contrast, European and Japanese rates seem to have reached historic lows due to the support of interventions by central banks. Additionally a combination of increased quantitative easing and lower trading liquidity has exacerbated the volatility of this asset class.
Keith Ney, Fixed Income Fund Manager at Carmignac, will present Carmignac Portfolio Global Bond’s investment allocation under the title “Alpha generation in an uncertain fixed income environment” at the Second Edition of the Funds Selector Summit to be held on 28th and 29th of April, where he will explain how they have been able to achieve performance by investing across sovereign, credit, and currency markets,
The conference, aimed at leading funds selectors and investors from the US-Offshore business, will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne. The event-a joint venture between Open Door Media, owner of InvestmentEurope, and Fund Society- will provide an opportunity to hear the view of several managers on the current state of the industry.
Keith Ney, who joined Carmignac Gestion in 2005, has been Fund Manager for Carmignac Securite since 2013. Prior to that, he worked as an analyst for Lawndale Capital Management from 1999 to 2005. Keith holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley, and is a CFA Charter holder since 2002.
You can find all the information about the Fund Selector Miami Summit 2016, aimed at leading fund selectors and investors from the US-Offshore business, through this link.
Rahul Chadha, CIO at Mirae Asset Global Investments.. mirae
Jung Ho Rhee, CEO at Mirae Asset Global Investments, explains in this interview with Funds Society all the details about its success in Asia and its international growth in markets as Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia and USA, where the firm looks to expand also in the offshore market.
Mirae Asset Global Investments was established in 1997 at the height of the Asian economic and currency crisis…How has this timing marked the nature of the firm?
It may be counter intuitive, the financial crisis created tremendous opportunities for Mirae Asset. Mirae Asset Global Investments was established in 1997 during which regulation in Korea was relaxed following the Asian financial crisis. Our firm started off as the first asset management company in Korea when mutual funds were largely unheard of by the Korean population. With years of vigorous investor education, our firm created a market for our products. In other words, Mirae Asset transformed the asset management industry in Korea. Now, we are the largest asset management company in Korea by AUM. Our firm’s ambition is not only to establish a presence in Korea, but also provide global investors best-in-class financial products. To that, our firm set up overseas office in Hong Kong in 2003 which managed regional and global funds to be sold to Korean and global investors. Since then, we have set up offices in India and Brazil to bolster our onshore fund offerings. In 2007, we established our UK office to boost our SICAV fund distribution capability throughout Europe. As of end October 2015, Mirae Asset Global Investments Group’s AUM amounted to USD 77.6 billion. All I can say is that our firm is resilient and has grown exponentially amid adverse macro condition.
Since then, what are the main challenges in managing Asian assets? How has your investment philosophy evolved?
The main challenge in managing Asian assets is that Asia is a unique and diverse region, whose constituent countries and sectors all possess different attributes, are all at different levels of development and maturity, and are driven by different cultural trends and consumer habits. In order to be successful, asset managers need to possess deep understanding of and insights into the economies and culture of the region. Mirae Asset is a company with an Asian heritage. We have a strong team of investment professionals focusing on the Asian markets and seven offices across Asia-Pacific. Our investment philosophy is focused on identifying long-term winners that possess sustainable competitiveness, and our investment process is driven by our on-the-ground research process. This allows us to construct compact, high conviction portfolios that shun “benchmark approaches” and achieve real alpha for our investors.
Regarding your international expansion, it started in 2003. Beyond Asia, you have presence in UK, Colombia, Brazil, USA and Canada but, where else are you selling your funds?
We are selling our Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV funds into Asia, Europe and Latin America. Our India office offers local domiciled funds for Indian investors. In the US, we are selling our local domiciled funds to US investors, but we are thinking about expanding our SICAV offerings in the US through wholesale channels to non-US citizens.
What are going to be your next steps in your international expansion?
Our expansion plan is on multi-pronged approach. We will continue to grow assets through expanding geographically, strengthening our relationships with clients and investment consultants, as well as widening our product offering. Recently, we have hired Marko Tutavac as head of consultant relationships based in Hong Kong, and Chris Wildman as head of Australia sales in Sydney. As our firm had gained ground in wholesale distribution in Europe and Asia and now wanted to further grow its institutional business, which was reflected in the new hires.
Tutavac is tasked with cultivating the firm’s relationship with global investment consultants and ratings agencies in Asia. He was hired from Fidelity Worldwide Investment, where he was associate director for institutional business for Asia ex-Japan. Wildman is responsible for driving the distribution of Mirae Asset’s fund particularly in the institutional marketplace. He was hired from AMP Capital, where most recently he was an institutional business executive. One of our recent product development initiatives is collaborating with Daiwa Asset Management to co-manage the Mirae Asset Next Asia Pacific Equity fund. The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and Korea and we are now planning to domicile in Japan to cater for global investors’ appetite on Asia Pacific including Japan equities. We received a substantial amount of requests and interest regarding the launch of this fund from European investors. We will continue to explore expansion opportunities in different directions.
What products do you use for your international growth?
Our Ucits fund range has seen AUM triple in past two years to $2 billion, largely driven by flows from institutions and wholesale clients in Europe. We have seen significant interest in our SICAV funds globally. In particular, Mirae Asset Asia Great Consumer Equity Fund and Mirae Asset Asia Sector Leader Equity Fund have consistently outperformed the benchmark and gained traction among our clients. As I mentioned earlier, we collaborate with Daiwa Asset Management to co-manage the Mirae Asset Next Asia Pacific Equity fund. The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and Korea and we are now planning to domicile in Japan to cater for global investors’ appetite on Asia Pacific including Japan equities.
Your AUM reach over $70 bn…What are your objectives for the coming years?
Our objective in the coming year is to continue our distribution efforts in SICAV funds across Europe, Asia and Latin America. As I mentioned earlier, we have recently hired our head of Australia sales, we will step up our distribution efforts in Australia.
Why did you choose a “team-based approach” model instead of betting on star fund managers or great individual talents?
We believe that a team-based approach, where a team of talented investment professionals work collaboratively, each focusing on and being accountable for their area of expertise is the best way to achieve long-term outperformance. This is borne out by our own experience and by independent academic research. Reliance on star investment managers may work for some asset management companies but we believe that it limits the scope, breadth and depth of investment ideas and is susceptible to personal bias. Furthermore, a structure dominated by a few key persons increases risks, whereas we believe that a team approach minimizes risks, including key man risks.
Risk analysis and factors like valuations, liquidity or governance are key in your investment philosophy, which one of these three factors is the biggest threat in Asia nowadays?
All of these issues are important for investors to consider. However, investors should be aware that Asia has seen rapid growth in the total investible universe of companies while continued efforts at improving market access, such as the recent Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect Scheme, have contributed to marked upgrades in liquidity. In addition, several Asian governments and regulators are making continued efforts to implement improvements to corporate governance. All of these are positive measures, which will contribute to Asia’s ongoing evolution as an accessible, efficient and transparent market for investors looking for stable and diversified investment opportunities. The advantage that Mirae Asset Global Investments offers is that we are a company with a unique heritage and presence in Asia – this means that we have a deep understanding of the Asian markets. Our on-the-ground research presence by our research analysts in Asia means that we are able to make first hand checks on issues related to liquidity and corporate governance before we make investments, and keep performing ongoing checks on all stocks in our portfolios. In particular, as signatories of United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, Mirae Asset Global Investments has a firm responsibility to ensure that issues of corporate governance are fully taken into consideration in our investment decisions.
China is in historical key moment, in the midst of a transition to a consumer economy. How do you value the difficulty and implications of this process to China? And for the rest of Asia? Do you think it is necessary to be focused when investing in China?
China is in the midst of an unprecedented effort to correct structural imbalances in its economy, and the success of this great transition will depend on how effectively the central government implements reforms. The China market saw some intense periods of volatility in 2015 as investor sentiment swung from optimism to pessimism, and while we expect there to be some volatility in 2016, what is certain is that the country is likely to avoid a hard landing. There could be some near-term pain as the reforms take time to play out and growth will likely remain low but we do not believe the current situation is as severe as in the global financial crisis of 2008 or the Asian financial crisis of 1997.
What is important to consider is that in low growth macroeconomic environments such as this, the importance of bottom-up growth picking comes to the fore. There are many sectors in China that have strong prospects for growth, and there are many high quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, strong balance sheets and capable management teams that are reasonably valued. Therefore, for skilled asset managers such as Mirae Asset Global Investments who rely on fundamental analysis and bottom-up stock picking to achieve alpha, this market presents many opportunities. The case is the same for the wider Asian region. Some countries are seeing lower rates of growth as ageing demographics and highly leveraged households exert negative pressure. However, emerging markets experts such as Mirae Asset Global Investments do not consider all emerging markets countries as one homogenous pack – there are many countries in the Asian region where we see rich opportunity and which may actually benefit from the current situation. This includes India, which will strongly benefit from the collapse of commodity prices.
What can we expect from Emerging Markets, after the last developments in China?
Top experts from Mirae Asset think it is important not to be blinded by macroeconomic pictures. Asia still provides ample investment opportunities. There has been a lot of volatility and things have happened so fast. After recent market correction, valuations of Asian equities become more attractive. This environment offers good opportunities to exploit. A bottom-up approach is key and we like selected stocks in consumer, technology and healthcare sectors.
Is it the moment to invest again in these “less favoured” markets, against other developed markets?
As mentioned above, China needs to correct some distortions in its economy and there will be a lot of deleveraging that needs to be performed. The “Old China” sectors which traditionally fueled China’s growth in the past will see some near-term pain. Growth in the economy will undoubtedly slow. However, for an US$11 trillion economy, growth at 3 to 4% overall is still reasonable and higher than some developed markets. Furthermore, there are many sectors in what we call the “New China” economy that offers excellent growth opportunity for investors. This includes investment themes such as the continued growth in IT services, healthcare services and underpenetrated financial sectors such as insurance. This is also true for other emerging markets. Commodity producers will no doubt suffer a downturn at least in the short run, but several emerging market countries will benefit from cheaper energy ad commodity prices, while countries such as Philippines still benefit from strong demographics and economic fundamentals. We still believe that Asia will drive the world’s economic growth in decades to come. Hence, it is important for investors to consider making an allocation to Asia in their portfolios.
What about alternative investments? Are you trying to boost this business globally? What could this provide to a Real Estate or Private Equity investor in Europe or America?
Mirae Asset Global Investments is considered to be a pioneer in regards to alternative investments in Asia. We were the first company to launch private equity funds in Korea, and introduced the first real estate fund in Korea as well. Today, we have an extensive portfolio of private equity and real estate holdings and manage various forms of alternative products spanning the full spectrum of asset classes. We also offer a diverse range of Asian hedge fund products that invest in more plain vanilla financial instruments such as equities, fixed income and derivatives. These aim to deliver absolute return type returns. We want to be a global business partner to all of our current and prospective clients – we recognize that our investors have a diverse range of unique investment needs, and we always aim to cater to those needs by driving innovation and diversity in our product line-up.
New research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates explores the increasing popularity of rep-as-portfolio-manager (RPM) programs.
“Since the 2008 market collapse, advisors who may have previously outsourced portfolio management to home-office consulting groups are reasserting control of client accounts, which permits them to more nimbly respond to their customers’ changing risk profiles in a volatile market,” states Tom O’Shea, associate director at Cerulli.
Advisors point to flexibility as the No. 1 reason for using RPM platforms, with more than 67% citing “flexibility and control” as the major factors. More than half of advisors plan to increase their use of managed account platforms that give them discretion of their clients’ allocation to mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and stocks.
“The changing landscape of investment discretion caused by the growth of RPM programs is forcing asset managers to rethink their distribution strategies,” O’Shea explains. “Most broker/dealer firms offer their advisors two levels of discretion on an RPM platform: full and partial. Discerning the type of RPM discretion an advisor exercises is critical to the wholesaler’s effectiveness in the field because it will point the salesperson toward the gatekeeper they need to influence.”
“Asset management firms should focus their attention on helping advisors understand how their products complement an advisor’s portfolio construction methodology,” O’Shea continues. “Advisors have graduated from selling products to building client solutions, and asset managers need to demonstrate what kind of building block their product is.”
Foto: Jannes Pockele
. Los inversores institucionales estadounidenses se alejan de la beta pura para diversificar
According to the latest research from Cerulli Associates, institutional investors in the United States are gravitating away from pure beta and duration-focused equity and fixed-income exposures.
“Institutions are considering the implications of volatility and constrained liquidity on their long-term goals and beginning to rebalance portfolios accordingly,” states Alexi Maravel, director at Cerulli. “While some are acting based on pressures outside of those in the financial markets, most are drawing lessons from the major losses experienced in 2007-2008 and taking precautions after years of post-financial-crisis gains.”
“Equity markets are struggling with the worst start to a calendar year in a decade and interest rates are near historical lows. Beneath the headlines are numerous indications of a change in the ‘risk-on’ approach that has benefited so many investors,” Maravel explains. “Conversations with both institutions and asset managers seem to begin and end with concerns about corporate spread widening and bond market liquidity.”
Many types of institutional investors are interested in strategies in which an investor can capture returns with low or no correlation to their other investments, such as absolute return, alternative credit, or infrastructure strategies, all of which tend to be actively managed.
“Institutions are increasing their awareness of the vulnerability to risk and volatility and it’s pushing institutions to re-allocate away from the passive index investments-pure market beta exposure-they have favored in the past six or seven years,” Maravel continues.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Udo von Werne, new CEO EMEA de Nikko AM. Nikko Asset Management Bolsters its Leadership Across EMEA With The Appointement of Udo von Werne as CEO
Nikko Asset Management has appointed Udo von Werne as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nikko Asset Management Europe, encompassing Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the company announced recently. He will be responsible for Nikko Asset Management’s business across this region and its continuing growth strategy, and reports directly to Nikko Asset Management President and CEO, Takumi Shibata.
Udo has more than 25 years of experience in the financial industry, most recently as Head of Institutional Clients for Continental Europe at Pictet Asset Management, and prior to that with organisations including Zurich Financial Services and UBS.
“In our effort to strengthen our global footprint, Udo will be instrumental in helping us to further expand, and his appointment demonstrates the importance we attach to growing our EMEA business. We warmly welcome Udo to our team,” Shibata said.
Nikko Asset Management has been expanding across EMEA, including augmenting its UCITS platform, backed by a growing team of professionals building its asset management presence. It is a key strategic region for the firm, representing institutional AUM potential of US$3.9 trillion1 – or approximately one-third of total global AUM.
“Europe, the Middle East, and Africa represent not only a substantial asset base, but also a talent pool that Nikko Asset Management aims to leverage worldwide, encompassing investment experience which is key to continuing global growth,” added Executive Chairman David Semaya. “Udo brings considerable institutional experience in Europe, and we look forward to serving our clients there, under his leadership.”
Foto: Stefano Corso. BNY Mellon espera rendimientos del 9% para los mercados emergentes en los próximos 10 años
Each year, BNY Mellon Investment Management develops capital market return assumptions for approximately 50 asset classes around the world. The assumptions are based on a 10-year investment time horizon and are intended to guide investors in developing their long term strategic asset allocations. They combine general market expectations and consensus data, adjusted to reflect research and views on potential market dislocations from across BNY Mellon Investment Management.
Some of the paper’s key points are:
Global equity market returns will likely range from 7% to 9% over the next 10 years. Emerging market equity will lead the way with returns near 9%, primarily due to stronger earnings growth compared to developed markets.
U.S. Treasury yields will likely rise until they reach a normalized level in six years, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.0% and the 30-year yield rising to 4.5%.
Overall, fixed income returns will be suppressed due to low current yields and principal losses due to rising interest rates.
Expected returns for alternative asset classes will generally be in line with public equity markets on a risk-adjusted basis.
Led by BNY Mellon Fiduciary Solutions, the capital market assumption team consists of more than 30 investment professionals including investment strategists, economists, financial advisors, manager research specialists, and portfolio managers.
You can access the full report on the following link.
Martin Gilbert, CEO of the Aberdeen AM, company he co-founded over 30 years ago, met with us in Palm Beach, after a brief “road show” in Miami with which Gilbert reaffirms one of his strongest commitments for 2016: the US offshore market. “The offshore industry in the United States is extremely important for Aberdeen. It is a sophisticated professional community which is highly geared towards the Latin American HNW client and shows a marked interest in international markets where the range of Aberdeen products stand out”
85% of Aberdeen AM’s clients are outside the United States, and 90% of the assets in which the firm invests are also outside the US market. Bev Hendry, who is co-director for the Americas region and accompanies Martin Gilbert in the interview, reiterated the international character of the management company and its commitment to clients such as “wholesale”, brokers-dealers, family offices, and private banks, which from the United States handle the wealth of international clients, especially of those from Latin America, “we are very aware of the importance of Miami as a center for the management of offshore wealth originating in Latin America, and in 2016 we would like to reinforce our team in that city, and to eventually hold a conference in Miami in which our leading experts can present their best ideas.” With this “Investors Day” Aberdeen AM would bring its renowned experts, including Andrew McCaffery, Global Head of Alternatives; Archie Struthers, Global Head of Investment Solutions; and Devan Kaloo, Head of Global Emerging Markets, to Miami.
Apart from the idea of holding a global conference for investors in Miami, Aberdeen AM’s commitment to the city as the center for the offshore industry in the Americas also includes the idea of growing its sales team in Southern Florida, diversifying its headcount from the current New York office. Both Martin Gilbert and Bev Hendry stress the importance of Miami as the main hub for the region. Currently, Menno de Vreeze, Business Development Director for the International Wealth Management business in the Americas, and his team, consisting of Andrea Ajila, Damian Zamudio, and Paula Ojeda, are based in New York, from where they serve the entire region.
Creating a Giant: From US$75mn to 430bn in 30 years
Aberdeen AM was founded as a trust in 1983, around a fund which was created in 1876 to finance railways in the UK. Martin Gilbert explains modestly: “I was the assistant at the law firm which managed this trust, we repurchased the fund, and eventually, when the senior partners retired, I was responsible for the daily life of the firm.” The first five partners to join the new management company were all from the same school in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Bev Hendry, the business’ current co-Head in the Americas region, was part of this group, and joined the management in 1987. “We were a very small company; in 1985 we had US$75mn in assets under management “Gilbert explains.
Since its inception, Aberdeen AM has been a very active management company in acquisitions. Martin Gilbert points out some key moments in its history: “In 1988 we had the good fortune to acquire Sentinel Asset Management, where Hugh Young worked as Director of Equities and expert on Asian Equities. Possibly the most important strategic move in Aberdeen’s history was the decision in 1992 for Hugh to move to Singapore to co-found Aberdeen Asia and lay the foundation for our successful Asian franchise.” Hugh Young is currently still a key player in Aberdeen AM’s Asian business, being responsible for its day-to-day operation and member of Aberdeen AM’s Executive Management Committee. Singapore currently has more than 150 employees, with 65 investment professionals spread across the Asian region, with offices in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Aberdeen’s Asian equity and fixed income funds have received numerous international awards for good performance, and although they have currently undergone significant repayments due to the difficult environment experienced by some emerging markets, they are still clearly leaders in this asset class.
Emerging Markets: Pros and Cons for the Management Company
Since the first quarter of 2013, emerging markets have presented an ongoing challenge for global investors. Because of Aberdeen AM’s leadership in this asset class, the impact has been important for the management company. In its annual results published in September 2015, it reported net outflows of 33.9 billion pounds in assets, mostly linked to equities and emerging markets, an amount just over 51 billion dollars at that date’s exchange rate.
“The deterioration in emerging markets has left some assets trading at very attractive levels,” explains the asset management company’s CEO. “Brazilian bonds, for example, are yielding 6% in hard currency. The yields in local currency are even more attractive. There are many opportunities in equities; especially in China and India where our Asian equity experts see many opportunities. Brazil, on the other hand, has probably bottomed out in terms of currency,” he says. “We remain a firm believer in the Asian region, particularly for investors whose local home currency is the US dollar.”
The management company’s CEO believes that investors who had the good sense to exit emerging markets are now already planning to return to at least a neutral position. For investors who have maintained their position in these markets the advice is unequivocal: “Whatever you do, do not exit now, as it’s the time of maximum pain”.
Gilbert points out that Aberdeen AM still maintains the same investment philosophy which led it to build a successful franchise in emerging markets: invest in solid companies with strong fundamentals and good corporate governance, and do so at a reasonable price.
Martin Gilbert is convinced that with this strategy money will return to emerging markets. In fact, referring to the results published for the year 2015, Gilbert points out that gross inflows of assets “have been excellent, although obviously, due to the situation in emerging markets and to oil prices, there have been significant redemptions,” particularly from sovereign funds from countries in need of resources.
Diversify into Alternative Assets
In its recent acquisitions, Aberdeen AM has focused on completing its range of alternative assets. “Over the past few months, we bought asset management companies which allow us to fill certain gaps in our product offering.” In August 2015, Aberdeen completed the acquisition of Flag, an asset management company which offers private equity solutions and real assets based in Stamford, with offices in Boston and Hong Kong. Arden, with offices in New York and London, is a hedge fund company which will complement Aberdeen AM’s range for this asset class. “Since the 2008 crisis, asset management companies have experienced a difficult environment, which opens opportunities to acquire good firms at good prices,” says Gilbert.
For Aberdeen AM, these acquisitions are aligned with of one of its main objectives for the coming years: the development of a franchise of alternative solutions to diversify its range of assets.
Talent Retention
For an asset management firm, retaining talent is a matter of utmost importance. Aberdeen AM compensates its key employees with the payment of a variable amount prorated over the five years following the time it is awarded -four years to the next level within the company-. In addition, investment professionals must invest part of that bonus in their own strategies, or in a list of related funds. Thus achieving the alignment of the client’s and the manager’s objectives.
“One of the keys to retaining talent in Aberdeen AM is our corporate culture,” says Gilbert. “Top management is quite accessible.” In addition, Aberdeen AM offers a graduate program, in which it yearly hosts some 100 trainees who temporarily work in the various offices of the company worldwide. “Each year, about 35 or 40 of those 100 become part of the program, and are trained in Aberdeen’s corporate culture from the start, promoting themselves internally within the company throughout their career.”
