Foto: Enrique Dans
. Legg Mason lanza sus primeros ETFs
Legg Mason announced that it has launched four new outcome-oriented index-based ETF fundsin partnership with its investment affiliate QS Investors. The four funds are branded under the Legg Mason name and began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on December 29, 2015.
Increasing concerns about macroeconomic risks, equity volatility and the continuing search for stable income are pressuring investors to look beyond traditional market cap weighted indices.
“We are excited to partner with Legg Mason to bring an investment approach we developed for institutions over a decade ago to retail investors in an ETF fund format. Many investors think of ETFs only as market cap indexed vehicles, but our macro diversification and sustainable income approaches target specific investment outcomes in a cost-effective format. This launch is part of our long-term focus on innovating to serve investor needs and create better solutions,” said James Norman, President of QS Investors.
Three of the new funds take a macro approach to building portfolios and balancing risk to deliver broad market exposure that can complement core portfolios. Based upon QS Investors’ proprietary rules-based methodology, Diversification Based Investing (DBI), the new funds are predicated on the understanding that capitalization-weighted indices are not balanced across opportunities and risks in the market place. Better diversification across macro exposures, like geography and economic sector can improve risk/return characteristics and mitigate unintended bets and therefore potentially lower drawdowns during macro-economic events. The funds are:
Legg Mason Developed Ex-US Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason Emerging Markets Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason US Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason is launching a fourth fund, the Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF, focused on income, risk mitigation and capital appreciation. It is based upon the idea that a stock’s ability to sustain a strong dividend payout is often associated with lower volatility, making these two characteristics complementary. Using a disciplined, rules-based methodology, the fund will screen for stocks with the potential for sustainable high dividends, while simultaneously screening out historically volatile stocks in the market.
“There are compelling opportunities to help investors achieve their objectives, whether capital preservation, income, or growth in an ETF format as the market grows and the ETF vehicle evolves. These innovative, outcome-oriented products have the potential to serve the needs of investors looking to better diversify across risks in their portfolios. We are excited to begin building our ETF offering and will continue to identify ways in which we can capitalize on the investment strengths of the Legg Mason investment affiliates,” said Rick Genoni, Head of the ETF business at Legg Mason.
The firm plans to launch additional ETF products in the coming months.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: John Walsh. Bill Gross Recomends Looking at Developed Countries, Long Inflation and Short Fixed Coupons
Bill Gross continues to believe that the overall situation is a very complicated one. In its latest publication the formerly known as the king of bonds warns of a demographic boom.
Gross believes that Fantasy Sports, cellphone game apps, sexting, and fast food are the new era “Cake” and “day at the Coliseum” to appease the masses. Used to distract the population of an incipient growth in the value of wages, and manipulation of monetary policies for Wealthy corporations… “It’s a wonderful life for the 1% and a Xanax existence for the 99″.
According to the investor, in the 2016 US elections nothing will change. However, the demographic situation in his country, should change the direction of financial markets in the not too distant future. “I speak specifically though to liabilities associated with the Boomer generation: healthcare, private pensions, Social Security and the unestimable costs of global warming,” Gross mentioned before emphasizing that the U.S. government has current outstanding debt of approximately $16 Trillion or close to 100% GDP, but that the present value of programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and other social totals $66 trillion or another 400% of GDP.
Looking ahead to the construction of portfolios, Gross believes that-taking into account that developing countries have a younger population, “then developed nations could and should transfer an increasing percentage of their financial assets to emerging markets to help foot the demographic bills back home. Long-term then, as opposed to currently, think about increasing your asset allocation to the developing world… It’s also commonsensical that if higher Millennial wages are the probable result of a shortage of healthcare workers relative to Boomer requirements, then an investor should go long inflation and short fixed coupons.” U.S. 10-year TIPS at 80 basis points seem like a good hedge in that regard. Looking at particular sectors, Gross is optimistic about the healthcare sector, and believes that insurance companies as well as the bonds of underfunded cities and states such as Chicago and Illinois have a bleak future.
To conclude the manager mentioned that if you think things are bad today, the coming decades will be even worse and “extra dose of Xanax” will be needed.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Gary Buxton, nuevo director financiero de Source. Gary Buxton asume el puesto de director financiero en Source
Source, one of the largest providers of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) in Europe, announced on Wednesday the appointment of Gary Buxton as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer. “Buxton has been an integral part of Source since the company was founded and will continue in his role as Chief Operating Officer as well as a member of the firm’s management committee,” a press release mentioned.
Lee Kranefuss, Source Chairman, said of the appointment: “In undertaking the search for a CFO, we wanted someone who could combine financial and tax expertise with the ability to think strategically and understand not only the specifics of the ETF industry but also the unique aspects of Source. Fortunately for us, we had the ideal candidate already here. Gary comes from an accountancy background and, since joining Source, has been heavily involved with almost every function within the business. In fact, Gary was the very first person employed by Source. When a company is going through a growth phase, as Source is now, it helps to have a certain amount of continuity, which Gary brings. The qualities he brings to the role of CFO also illustrate the depth of expertise we have available to us at the firm.”
Buxton will continue with his responsibilities in the Investment Management Group and Capital Markets. These include overseeing new product execution, trading, risk management and operations.
Buxton began his career at the accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche. He has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Bristol and is a chartered accountant.
Bank Julius Baer informed that it has appointed Torsten Linke as Head Private Banking South East Asia with immediate effect. Subject to regulatory approval, he will also become Branch Manager Singapore. He will be responsible for Julius Baer’s operations and development in Singapore and expanding the Bank’s business presence and client base in South East Asia. He will report to Jimmy Lee, Head Asia Pacific at Bank Julius Baer.
Torsten Linke joins Julius Baer with 30 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining the Bank, he was Market Leader Indonesia at Credit Suisse. Before that, he was Market Manager for Indonesia at Standard Chartered Private Bank from 2009. Previously he held a number of senior leadership and management roles at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management during 24 years in Singapore, London, Frankfurt and Hamburg, including Head Strategy and Business Development for South East Asia, Deputy Head South East Asia and Market Manager for Indonesia. He has lived in Singapore for more than 13 years, first from 2001 to the end of 2004 and then again since 2006.
David Lim, currently Head Private Banking South East Asia and Branch Manager Singapore, will become Vice Chairman South East Asia to focus on deepening and broadening Julius Baer’s client relationships. He will also continue to contribute his wealth of expertise by providing advice on strategic initiatives. In this new role, he will report directly to Jimmy Lee.
“Our South East Asia and Singapore businesses have seen significant growth in recent years. We are strongly committed to these markets. We are pleased to welcome Torsten to take on this important role. At the same time, I would also like to thank David for his strong contribution in the past years and for taking up new responsibilities. Since joining the Bank in 2006, David has been instrumental in building up the Julius Baer franchise in South East Asia and Singapore and has played a pivotal role in the successful integration of the Merrill Lynch International Wealth Management business in Singapore,” said Jimmy Lee.
According to Detlef Glow, Head of EMEA research at Lipper, assets under management in the European mutual fund industry enjoyed net inflows of €2.3 billion into long-term mutual funds for November.
While Ireland (+€20.4 bn), France (+€5.2 bn), Luxembourg (+€3.8 bn), Germany (+€2.1 bn), and the United Kingdom (+€1.3 bn) were the single fund markets with the highest net inflows for November, Switzerland (-€2.2 bn), Norway (-€2.2 bn), and Spain (-€1.5 bn) stood on the other side.
In terms of asset classes, Equity funds with €5.2 billion enjoyed the highest net inflows for the month, followed by alternative UCITS products with €2.8 billion and mixed-asset funds with €2 billion. Meanwhile, bond Funds, which in October had the highest net inflows, suffered during November from the highest net outflows, loosing €7.8 billion.
Money market products enjoyed net inflows of €23 billion for November.
The best selling sectors within the segment of long-term mutual funds in November where:
· Equity Europe with €2.1 billion
· Absolute Return EUR Medium Term with €1.9 billion
· Bond EUR Corporates with €1.8 billion
Amongst ETF promoters, Blackrock’s iShares with €5.46 billion, Goldman Sachs with €5.42 billion and Aviva €4.81 billion, were the best selling ones.
The best selling ETF for November was the SLI Global SICAV Global Absolute Return Strategies A EUR, which accounted for net inflows of €966.26 million
Federal Street Advisors, an independent investment consultant and wealth management firm for individuals, families and nonprofit organizations, and Pathstone Family Office, a Multi Family Office offering in house expertise in investments, tax planning and compliance, estate planning, family education, and philanthropy jointly announced today that Federal Street has merged with Pathstone to create Pathstone Federal Street, a wealth advisory firm with enhanced capabilities to provide truly independent advice and services to both high-net-worth and institutional clients.
“This marks an exciting new chapter for us – it expands our capabilities and offerings in wealth management,” said Steve Braverman Co-CEO of Pathstone Family Office and the new Pathstone Federal Street. “We feel this combination of talents, founded on a strong mutual heritage of multigenerational stewardship and independent advice, will offer broader perspective, deeper services and a robust organization built for the long-term.”
“Pathstone Federal Street integrates and leverages each organization’s strengths and expertise,” John LaPann, Founder of Federal Street Advisors and Chairman of the new organization. “Pathstone combines its solid legacy in providing integrated family office services, state-of-the-art technology and operating efficiencies with Federal Street’s long-respected internal manager research, due diligence process, and leadership in sustainable and impact investing.”
“The combination of the two firms will allow many more opportunities for all our clients as it will leverage the talents of our now 65 employees across our 4 offices serving 190 clients representing in excess of $6.5 Billion in total advisory assets,” said Allan Zachariah, Co-CEO of Pathstone Family Office and the new Pathstone Federal Street. “Our partnership and expanded services provide significant opportunities for our employees to grow and uniquely contribute to the individual outcome of each client.”
Matthew Fleissig of Pathstone Family Office will become President of the new organization, joined by Eric Godes and Jennifer Murtie of Federal Street Advisors who will share the Chief Operating Officer title at Pathstone Federal Street. Jennifer will also serve as the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer. Kristin Fafard of Federal Street will continue as Chief Investment Officer for the combined organization. Matthew Sher will serve as the new firm’s Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Technology Officer. In addition, Pathstone Federal Street is proud to name new Managing Directors: Daniel Gross, Kelly Maregni, Janet Mertz, Mark Peters, and Charles Walsh.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: AlfonsoBenayas, Flickr, Creative Commons and I will treat emerging markets as emerging (yet again), among them. UBS AM: Market Resolutions for 2016
The latest edition of UBS Asset Management’s Economist Insights, authored by Joshua McCallum and Gianluca Moretti, speaks about market resolutions for 2016. Joshua has been Senior Economist with UBS Asset Management’s Fixed Income area since 2005, and prior to this he was a macroeconomist at the UK Treasury. Gianluca joined the firm in 2010 from the central bank of Italy.
Based on the experiences of 2015, they once again suggest some New Year’s resolutions for the market. Among others:
I must behave like an adult if I want central banks to treat me like an adult;
I must acknowledge that lower potential growth mean searlier rate hikes;
I will start the year with more humble expectations of growth;
I will treat emerging markets as emerging (yet again);
I will think of Greece as a holiday destination, rather than as destroyer of the Euro;
I will recognize that the global economy is diverging.
You can download the full document in the following link.
Foto: Rachel Gardner. Cerrada la compra de Arden Asset Management por parte de Aberdeen
Aberdeen Asset Management acquired hedge fund solutions provider Arden Asset Management on December 31, 2015.
The combined hedge fund solutions team located in London and New York specializes in creating and managing multi-manager portfolios with expertise in hedge fund manager research, selection, monitoring/oversight and portfolio management. With $10.3 billion in assets under management, the team provides commingled funds, customized portfolios, mutual funds and advisory services to a global, blue-chip client base of individual and institutional investors.
This acquisition grows Aberdeen’s global alternatives platform, which encompasses multi-manager research, selection and portfolio management for hedge-fund strategies, private equity and debt, property and other real asset investments, along with direct investments in infrastructure projects. Aberdeen can now offer its clients access and exposure to a universe of high-quality alternative investments, covering liquid strategies, private markets and real assets.
Andrew McCaffery, Global Head of Alternatives at Aberdeen Asset Management, comments:”We are very pleased to have closed on the acquisition of Arden Asset Management LLC. Our excitement about the potential of the combined, integrated platform continues to grow, enhanced by the very encouraging feedback we have received from clients since signing the agreement. We continue to focus upon the opportunity presented by investors’ increasing demand for high-quality research, combined with effective portfolio construction and management, in an effort to generate sustainable returns for their hedge fund portfolios. The development of liquid-alternative portfolios and products, built off our broader hedge fund solutions platform, is an area that we are increasingly confident will grow in 2016 and beyond.”
It is anticipated that during the first quarter of 2016, Arden’s Alternative Strategies Fund and Arden’s Alternative Strategies II will be reorganized into newly created series of Aberdeen Funds, Aberdeen Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund and Aberdeen Multi-Manager Alternative Strategies Fund II, using investment strategies that are substantially similar to those of the Arden Funds.
Aberdeen’s alternatives division has more than $21 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2015. This coupled with Arden will bring the group’s alternatives assets to more than $31 billion. Aberdeen manages more than $429.7 billion on behalf of institutional and private investors.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, Flickr. Hans Vontobel muere con 100 años
Dr. Hans Vontobel, Honorary Chairman of Vontobel Holding AG, died on January 3rd 2016 at the age of 100. According to Vontobel’s statement “The employees of Vontobel are mourning an exceptional man, with whom they all felt a special bond.”
Hans Vontobel joined the then J. Vontobel & Co. in 1943, and under his leadership it became one of the leading internationally active investment advisory firms. He took over as Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1981, and had served as Honorary Chairman since 1991. For many years, he was the Chairman of the Zurich Stock Exchange, a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Bankers Association and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and Chairman of the German-Swiss Chamber of Commerce.
A father of two daughters and a son, he was not only a passionate banker, he was also an author and publicist. His credo “quand même” was immortalized in his his last Blog entry, He had an acute sense of civic awareness, and was a keen observer of his time. Hislife was greatly influenced by his love of nature, and by his commitment to a wide range of charitable causes. As a philanthropist he will be remembered, among other things, for having set up the Vontobel Foundation, the Kreatives Alter Foundation, and the Lyra Foundation, which supports highly gifted young musicians.
As a prudent and far-sighted entrepreneur, he soon put his stamp on the house and also addressed his own transience with the transfer of significant stakes to the Vontobel Foundation and the family-controlled Vontrust AG. “Ensuring that the company would remain independent after his death was a matter of great importance to him,” stated Vontobel.
Herbert J. Scheidt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vontobel Holding AG said: “Hans Vontobel was one of the most important bankers in our country, but beyond that he was a convinced humanist, who put people at the heart of everything he did. He will remain an example to us all, as a source of considered, far-sighted advice, and with his cosmopolitan outlook and thirst for knowledge. The Board of Directors, Group Executive Management and the employees will carry on his work and his values with a due sense of responsibility, resolve and commitment. All the employees send their heartfelt condolences to the family.”
WIN/Gallup International, the world’s leading association in market research and polling, has published its 39th End of Year Survey exploring the outlook, expectations, views and beliefs of 66,040 people from 68 countries across the globe. Below some of the most revealing findings:
66% of the world say that they feel happy about their lives, down from 70% in 2014; 23% are neither happy nor unhappy, and 10% feel unhappy about their lives
Net happiness (happy minus unhappy) globally is 56%
Colombia is the happiest country in the world (85% net happiness), followed by Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Vietnam while Iraq is the least happy for the second year in a row (-12% net happiness)
45% of the world is optimistic about the economic outlook for 2016; 22% are pessimistic and 28% believe the economy will remain the same
The most optimistic country about economic prosperity in 2016 is Nigeria (61% net optimistic), followed by Bangladesh, China and Vietnam. In contrast, Greece is the most pessimistic (-65% net optimistic) country
A little over 1 person out of 2 (54%) believes 2016 will be better than 2015, 16% think it will be worse and 24% believe 2016 will be the same as 2015
Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, Fiji and Morocco are the most hopeful nations, while Italy is the least hopeful
A happy world in 2015
As 2015 comes to an end, 66% of respondents to the WIN/Gallup International survey say that they are happy, down slightly from 70% in 2014. Of the 66,040 people surveyed, 10% said that they were unhappy, up 4% from 2014. Overall that means that the world is 56% net happy (happiness minus unhappiness). In 2015 the net happiest country in the world is Colombia (85%), in stark contrast the world’s unhappiest country is Iraq at -12% net happiness.
Economic Optimism high across the world
The study shows that 45% of the world is optimistic for the economic outlook in 2016 over double (22%) of those who are pessimistic. It’s perhaps unsurprising that Greece is the most pessimistic (-65% net optimistic) country given their current perilous financial position. The most optimistic nation when it comes to the economy is Nigeria (61% net optimism). When it comes to a demographic breakdown young people prove to be considerably more optimistic than older generations with 31% net optimistic for the under 34s compared to just 13% for the over 55s.
Hope high amongst aspiring nations
As part of their analysis WIN/Gallup International has grouped the world into three tiers: Prosperous (the G7); Emerging (G20 excluding the original G7) and Aspiring (all others) nations. Whilst there is huge disparity in income levels across these three tiers, the level of net happiness across all three (Prosperous 42%, Emerging 59% and Aspiring 54%) is notably high. However, the findings on hope and economic optimism vary markedly across the tiers. According to the global poll, Prosperous nations display the least hope and economic optimism with 6% and -16% respectively; to the contrary Emerging nations are very hopeful about the future and far more optimistic about the economic outlook at 50% and 36% meanwhile the Aspiring nations sit between the two on hope (29%) and economic optimism (16%).
