Photo: Tarek Saber, Head and Lead Portfolio manager of the Convertible Bonds Team at NN Investment Partners. Tarek Saber, from NN Investment Partners, brings the current state of convertible bonds to the Fund Selector Summit in Miami
Convertible bonds are a well established asset class which has outperformed through the cycle over the last 40 years. During this time, convertibles have displayed lower volatility than equities and fewer defaults than high yield debt. The main attraction of this investment class is its potential ability to generate returns from both credit markets and rising equity markets.
Tarek Saber, Head and Lead Portfolio manager of the Convertible Bonds Team at NN Investment Partners, will present the strengths of the Dutch firm’s strategy in this asset class, under the title, ‘Convertible bonds: the fixed-income alternative to equities’, at the Second edition of the Funds Selector Summit to be held in Miami on the 28th and 29th of April.
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.
The NN Investment Partners’ convertible investment strategy team, headed by Saber since 2014, seeks to capture the essence of the opportunities offered by the market for convertible bonds globally, focusing on balanced convertibles, backed by a process of in-depth research and concentrated on a select number of convertibles.
Prior to joining NN IP, Tarek Saber was CEO / CIO for Avoca Convertible Bond Partners LLP and Head of Convertible Bond Strategies in the management company’s London office.
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.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPershing nombra Chief Operating Officer a Lori Hardwick - foto cedida. Pershing nombra Chief Operating Officer a Lori Hardwick
Pershing LLC this week announced that Lori Hardwick has been named the company’s new chief operating officer, effective February 29, 2016.
Hardwick joins from Envestnetand will succeed Lisa Dolly, who was recently appointed new chief executive officer. Since joining Envestnet at its inception nearly 16-years ago, Hardwick served in a variety of roles managing its enterprise, sales, services, advisor orientation and on-boarding divisions. She most recently served as the company’s group president of advisory services, overseeing all of its enterprise relationship management, institutional and global advisory sales, strategic partnerships, and practice management programs.
“We’re fortunate to have Lori, a successful and highly qualified leader with an extensive track record of success and business growth, joining BNY Mellon’s Investment Services team,” said Lisa Dolly.
“Lori brings many years of investment, technology and advisory expertise to Pershing and will help us deliver solutions which empower clients and improve the advisor and investor experience.”
“Lisa and Lori will be a dynamic and complementary leadership combination, adding strength and depth to an industry leading team,” said Brian Shea, BNY Mellon vice chairman and CEO, Investment Services. “Their experience, client-focus and solution orientation will help propel our clients and our business to a higher level of success.”
Prior to joining Envestnet, Hardwick served as regional vice president at Nuveen Investments, cultivating relationships with independent advisors spanning ten states in the Midwest. She also was responsible for founding Nuveen Investment Advisor Services, where she developed and managed a program and team specifically targeted to RIAs. Prior to Nuveen, Hardwick worked in institutional sales with Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson.
Hardwick was named one of the ’50 Most Influential Women in Private Wealth’ by Private Asset Management magazine in 2015 and one of the ’50 Top Women in Wealth’ by AdvisorOne in 2011.
According to Detlef Glow, Head of EMEA research at Lipper, assets under management in the European exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry increased from €368.9 billion to €449.3 billion over the course of 2015. This increase of €80.4 billion was driven mainly by net sales, which contributed €71.2 billion to the overall growth in assets under management in the ETF segment.
In terms of asset classes, Equity funds with €44.6 billion the highest net inflows for the year.
The best selling Lipper global classifications for 2015 where:
Equity Eurozone with €16.1 billion
Equity Europe with €9.1 billion
Equity Germany with €3.5 billion
Amongst ETF promoters in Europe during 2015, Blackrock’s iShares with €30.3 billion, db x-trackers with €10.0 billion and Lyxor ETF with €8.8 billion, were the best selling ones.
The best selling ETF for 2015 was the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, which accounted for net inflows of €2.6 billion
Foto: Camilo Rueda López
. El miedo de los advisors a perder clientes por cambiar sus estructuras de compensación es infundado
Despite ongoing discussion about the evolution of the advisory fee structure, advisors have been sluggish to make changes due to a persistent fear of losing clients. Based on data from the latest SEI research of financial advisors and investors, however, this fear is unwarranted. In fact, the reality is advisors were able to retain 90 percent of all clients upon switching to an AUM model, according to the study. The study also found that three-quarters of investors never or seldom discuss fees with their primary advisor, indicating that conversations about fees and pricing models can be uncomfortable for both parties. The lack of discussion uncovers a significant opportunity for advisors to embrace change, engage and educate their clients on the value of the advice they receive.
“Although advisors and clients are not talking about fees today, the media, the DOL and robo-advisors are beginning to seep into the consciousness of the public and someday the conversations may come to the forefront,” said John Anderson, Managing Director and Head of Practice Management Services for the SEI Advisor Network. “Most advisors don’t charge clients for goals-based planning and advice. For most, compensation — be it asset under management (AUM) fees, commission-based or both — is linked to the investment products their clients buy or sell, where advisors’ added value is least measurable. Now is the time for advisors to rethink the way they market their most valuable asset: advice.”
Investors Unclear of How Advisors Are Compensated
The research found that a quarter of investors still do not understand how their advisors are compensated, despite ongoing education and disclosure efforts. Among those who know how their advisors are compensated, one-third of mass-affluent and high-net-worth households pay their advisor a percentage fee based on a level of assets under their management, and more than half pay their advisor each time a transaction is made. Among penta-millionaires, 36 percent of households indicate they are not sure how their advisor is compensated, and an additional 5 percent claim they do not compensate for the services they receive.
“Avoiding the fees discussion does not benefit advisors or their clients,” said Anderson. “We believe that today’s investors want advice and guidance to manage their increasingly complex financial lives, but they also need to understand their fee structures. By keeping the fee and pressure-point dialogue open, it’ll allow advisors to clearly articulate a value proposition that clients understand and are willing to pay for. This is particularly true given the growth of cheaper online but less-personalized advice.”
The High Value of Advice
The vast majority of advisors report that their fear of losing clients when they switched fee model was unfounded. To reiterate, the reality is they were able to retain 90 percent of all clients upon switching to an AUM model. Even though more than half (61 percent) of advisor respondents have not made a change to their fee structure in more than five years, those who have made changes to their fee model have shifted from commission-based to an AUM model (34 percent), and/or added planning fees to an AUM model (30 percent); or, moved from an AUM fee to a combination AUM fee plus an ongoing retainer (12 percent). Interestingly, two-thirds have never changed their fee structure at all. Responses were similar for one- and two-person offices as well as for firms with 20-plus employees.
Furthermore, investors were asked what they would do if they felt they were paying too much for advisory fees, and the majority said they would stay with their advisor regardless. Among the mass affluent, nearly 30 percent indicate they would ask their advisor for a reduction in fees, and if granted, they would stay. Twenty-seven percent would ask their advisor for a reduction in fees and would stay even if they said no, while 22 percent would not say or do anything and would stay with their advisor. The responses from high-net-worth investors do not skew from this trend.
Among high-net-worth investors, 27 percent would ask their advisor for a reduction in fees, and if granted, would stay. More than a quarter would stay even if their advisor declined to reduce fees. Meanwhile, 16 percent said they would ask for a fee reduction and would leave if the answer was no, a clear distinction from the mass affluent who are more likely to stay even if they are denied. Penta-millionaires appear to be shrewder with their negotiations around fees, with 30 percent of respondents who would leave if the fees were not reduced. However, 28 percent of these respondents would not say or do anything and would stay with their advisor, which is in line with other investors.
Anderson commented, “The decoupling of investment advice and portfolio management is underway. And while it’s challenging the venerable AUM model, our research confirms that it is unlikely to change any time soon. The time has come for our industry to adopt a universal advice-based model built on a foundation of professional advice, trust and integrity, and pricing models that equate to the value investors understand and are willing to pay.”
According to Detlef Glow, Head of EMEA research at Lipper, assets under management in the European mutual fund industry enjoyed net inflows of €328.8 billion into long-term mutual funds during 2015.
The single fund markets with the highest net inflows for 2015 were Luxembourg (+€212.3 bn), Ireland (+€68.4 bn), and France (+€25.8 bn), while Spain (-€3.5 bn), Hungary (-€2.3 bn), and the Isle of Man (-€1.3 bn) faced the highest net outflows for 2015.
Equity Europe with €36.5 billion was once again the best selling sector for 2015 among long-term funds.
In terms of asset classes, mixed-asset funds with €95.4 billion enjoyed the highest net inflows for the year, followed by alternative UCITS products with€89.4 billion , equity funds with €79.8 billion, bond funds with €64.7 billion, real estate products €8.4 billion and commodity funds €1.9 billion. “Other” products (-€10.7 bn) were the only product category with net outflows for the year. Money market products enjoyed net inflows of €57.3 bn for the year.
BlackRock, with net sales of €51.4 bn, was the best selling fund group for 2015 overall, ahead of Deutsche Bank (+€20.1 bn) and JPMorgan (+€18.7 bn). The ten best selling long-term funds together gathered net inflows of €45.7 bn over the course of 2015. UniGlobal Vorsorge (+€8.3 bn) was the best selling individual long-term fund in Europe for 2015.
Winfried Buchbauer is a new member of the management board of Erste Asset Management GmbH as of 1 February 2016.
The management board of Erste Asset Management (EAM) now consists of Heinz Bednar (CEO), Christian Schön and Winfried Buchbauer. Winfried Buchbauer 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.
Winfried Buchbauer (51) has a proven track record as a legal counsellor 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 Erste Asset Management GmbH.
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: James Lumb
. Los gestores deben cuidar la distinción entre productos onshore y offshore
The growing interest in alternative Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds among European investors is an opportunity for offshore managers, but offering the same strategy as two different products presents its own challenges, especially with regard to fees, according to the latest issue of The Cerulli Edge.
Demand for UCITS products and the introduction of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) has left many fund managers, that are keen to access a global investor base, unsure of whether to retain their offshore strategies, move them onshore, or do both, says Cerulli, a global analytics firm.
Seeking to resolve the offshore dilemma by adding an onshore product can create its own set of challenges, especially when launching UCITS funds designed to replicate the performance of an offshore strategy, says Barbara Wall, Europe managing director at Cerulli.
“Offering a UCITS product alongside a separate, offshore version of the same strategy can be problematic. The framework’s restrictions on strategy and liquidity (UCITS funds must trade at least twice a month) give rise to the potential for onshore/offshore pairings that could favor one set of investors over the other. This makes the dynamic of the said pairing paramount to a successful distribution strategy,” explains Wall.
A key distinction needs to be made: has the UCITS fund been designed to run pari passu to the offshore original or to complement it? Managers marketing the UCITS hedge fund as pari passu should expect fees to come under greater scrutiny, maintains Cerulli.
“Investors in the offshore fund, with less generous terms than the UCITS-compliant variant, may feel they are getting a raw deal if they are paying more or the same as investors in the onshore vehicle for less liquidity, especially if the difference in performance is minimal,” adds Tony Griffiths, a senior analyst at Cerulli.
“As such, tweaking the strategy within the offshore fund in order to change the risk-reward profile, thus distinguishing it from its UCITS counterpart, will help head off awkward questions and mitigate the chances of cannibalizing the investor base. If the manager is not marketing the funds as pari passu and has made clear that the UCITS strategy is a ‘lower strength’ version of the offshore original, a lower UCITS fee is then more applicable,” says Griffiths.
Alexandra Ruiz y Ana Contreras-Ludvigsen. Fotos cedidas. Alexandra Ruiz y Ana Contreras-Ludvigsen se unen al equipo de TotalBank
TotalBank has just announced the addition of Private BankerAlexandra Ruiz and Sales DirectorAna Contreras-Ludvigsen.
“We are pleased to be welcoming these two experienced and capable bankers to our TotalBank team. Our strategic goal is to expand Private Banking as well as our Downtown Banking Center, and we are confident their contributions will have a positive impact,” stated Jay Pelham, President of TotalBank.
Alexandra Ruiz, who joins TotalBank as a Vice President and Private Banker, will provide private client services to high-net-worth individuals, including residential, wealth management, and lending. In addition, she will develop relationships with new and potential clients. With 15 years of experience in the banking industry, she was most recently at City National Bank – Bci Financial Group, where she held the position of Assistant Vice President/Personal and Small Business Banker. Ruiz holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University. Her affiliations include United Way of Miami-Dade Young Leaders and the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce.
With more than 28 years of banking experience, Ana Contreras-Ludvigsen, joins TotalBank as Vice President and Sales Director at the Downtown Banking Center. She will be responsible for the overall financial performance of the Downtown Banking Center with an emphasis on retail lending, deposit acquisition and customer ambassador. She was previously with U.S. Century as Vice President Branch Manager. Contreras-Ludvigsen holds an associate of arts degree from Miami-Dade College.
. HMC Capital Hired Diana Roa as Head for Colombia
Diana Roa is the new head of HMC Capital in Colombia. Following her departure from Alianza Fiduciaria, a Colombian asset management company where she was Head of Alternative Investments; Diana Roa has now joined HMC Capital, the Latin America financial services and advisory firm founded by Felipe Held and Ricardo Morales.
Diana also led the Alternative Investments of AFP BBVA Horizonte before it was sold to AFP Porvenir. She has a MBA from Grenoble Ecole de Management, in France and has an engineer degree from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia.
The main purpose of her role is to open the new office of HMC in Bogota, and lead the expansion of the firm into the Colombian market. They are targeting different areas of businesses including local asset management funds, international Alternative strategies and Asset Managers. She has the local expertise, knows the regulation in depth and used to manage more than 20 funds with almost USD 1 billion in AUM, involving 100 different counterparties, mainly Colombian investors, both private and institutional.
Diana started on February 1st 2016 and is based at HMC office in Bogota, Colombia.
Foto: Nicola Corboy, Flickr, Creative Commons. Allianz GI compra la gestora británica especialista en renta fija Rogge Global Partners
Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), one of the world’s leading active investment managers, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Rogge Global Partners (RGP), the London- based global fixed income specialist.
The transaction, for an undisclosed sum, will see AllianzGI acquire 100 per cent of the issued share capital in RGP from Old Mutual and RGP management. The combination will further strengthen AllianzGI’s growing fixed income capability and client proposition, while providing RGP with a strategic partner which will offer greater distribution potential for its strategies.
AllianzGI’s commitment to building out its fixed income capability has seen it make a number of investments in this area in recent years, including the creation of an Asian Fixed Income team under the leadership of David Tan, the development of its Emerging Market Debt team led by Greg Saichin and more recently the hiring of Mike Riddell to lead the development of its UK Fixed Income capability. These investments augment AllianzGI’s already substantial Fixed Income capability.
Commenting on the transaction, Andreas Utermann, Global CIO and CEO-elect of AllianzGI, said: ”We are delighted that RGP have chosen to partner with AllianzGI as the springboard for the next stage of their development. The two businesses are a natural fit – in terms of both product mix and culture – and we really look forward to working together closely for our clients’ mutual interests. The complementary nature of the fit extends also to geographic footprint, which will substantially enhance AllianzGI’s footprint in the UK as well as making RGP’s strategies available to more clients globally.”
Franck Dixmier, AllianzGI’s Global Head of Fixed Income and a member of its Global Executive Committee, added: ”The addition of RGP is a further important step in the development of AllianzGI’s global fixed income capability. It offers us a unique opportunity to accelerate the development of our client offering in fixed income. As active managers, we share a common philosophy on generating alpha in difficult market conditions and look forward to realising the fruits of this exciting new enterprise.”
Consistent with AllianzGI’s previous acquisitions and integrations, the integrity of the RGP investment team and process will be maintained. The RGP team will become part of the global investment platform, which is set up to preserve the distinct dynamics, processes and philosophies of different investment teams.
As a result of its client-centric strategy and focus on active investing, AllianzGI has attracted positive net inflows in each of the last 11 quarters and has seen the assets it manages in fixed income grow from EUR 109bn to EUR 167bn in the last four years.
Olaf Rogge, Founder, Executive Chairman and co-CIO of RGP, said: “We initiated the search for a new strategic partner back in 2015 with the support of our current majority owner, Old Mutual. Having had discussions with a number of interested parties, we are convinced that the combination with AllianzGI will be in the best interests of clients and will ensure the continued future growth of RGP’s successful investment approach.”
As at the end of September 2015, AllianzGI’s assets under management (AuM) totalled EUR 427bn on behalf of clients, of which EUR 167bn were in fixed income strategies. RGP’s AuM, all of which is in fixed income products, totalled EUR 34bn.
The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2016.
