Pioneer Investments: “We Must Open up The Range of Opportunities and Ideas in order to Generate Alpha”

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“Hay que abrir el abanico de oportunidades e ideas con el fin de generar alfa"
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrAdam Mac Nulty, Client Portfolio Manager for Multi-Asset Solutions at Pioneer Investments. Pioneer Investments: “We Must Open up The Range of Opportunities and Ideas in order to Generate Alpha”

Volatility has returned to the markets and investors are realizing that, in this environment of uncertainty, there is a possibility of losing money in assets traditionally regarded as safe, such as fixed income. In fact, some debt and equity markets seem to be overvalued and doubts about their behavior are becoming more pressing. “Investors want more stable returns but do not want to experience losses or take risk, and in this regard, absolute return solutions are a good choice. These strategies really do have a place in portfolios,” says Adam Mac Nulty, Client Portfolio Manager for Multi-Asset Solutions at Pioneer Investments, during an interview with Funds Society.

The expert, who recently participated in the Pioneer Forum in Miami, reveals the virtues of a range of the management company’s multi-asset solutions, encompassing multi-asset products with direct investment, even in income mode, funds of funds, tailored solutions, and absolute return multi-asset strategies. The latter, which they have been managing since 2004, have aroused great appetite amongst investors, especially during the last 18 months, due to market conditions.

But not just any absolute return strategy will do. Mac Nulty explains that diversification is the key: being aware of what is in the portfolio; giving beta an increasingly less important role; and placing greater emphasis on alpha generation. “We should not depend on beta because perceptions often do not correspond to reality,” he says.

Alpha generation can be arrived at, for example, by investing in long-short, or relative value strategies: “In traditional strategies alpha is usually only generated on the long side, but it’s different with portfolios that are less restrictive. It’s important to increase the range of investment opportunities and ideas; adopt relative value positions; invest in multiple uncorrelated strategies thus ensuring robust diversification,” he says. All with the intention of reducing the volatility of fixed income and equity markets.

And he admits that the fact of having an absolute return perspective is easier with a multi-asset portfolio than with a single asset: “The fact of not being limited to an asset offers more opportunities.”

In their strategies, they invest in liquid assets, including fixed income, equities, real estate, convertible bonds, derivative strategies, commodities…

 

Managing Absolute Return Portfolios since 2004

Since they started managing absolute return portfolios in 2004, the markets have changed greatly. “Many extreme events have happened, such as the 2008 crisis and periods of volatility, from which we have learned and which have helped us to improve the management of our portfolios,” explains Mac Nulty.

For example, in recent years they have introduced more diversification in portfolios (previously they had around 45 strategies, and now there’s around one hundred); more relative value strategies; they are constantly seeking to combine multiple, low correlated strategies into the portfolio; and they have introduced several layers of risk management to help protect the portfolio from the permanent impairment of capital including hedges against possible extreme events in the form of put options, or positions in Gold as a hedge to their macro base case. “We learned a lot from past experiences. It’s also very important to stress test the portfolios regularly to discover how they would behave under different scenarios. Because the next crisis will be different, and we want to be prepared,” he says.

Proof of this is the behavior of the portfolio during last August. After the rally in the first quarter of the year, the managers decided to adopt a more cautious stance. “We believed that the market was too complacent and that valuations were not attractive.” Therefore, they reduced risk, by cutting their equity and FX exposures, and reducing duration from 4 years to 2 years. Their positioning paid off during the summer−especially in the slumps in August− as the team benefited from the low risk of their portfolio.

“We’re not market timers but we’re very good at managing risk. In summer we had very little market exposure, and moderate levels of duration when the sell-off occurred; we were well positioned and the portfolio lost only a small bit of ground,” he explains. After the falls, they assumed a bit more risk in portfolios, although they are still at low levels, and believe that, as yet, there are still no good market entry points. “We believe that volatility is making its way back, which will increase the correlation between asset classes,” advises the expert. “But we are always on the lookout for interesting opportunities and would look to add risk exposure should we experience any further sell offs”.

The Strategies

Among the company’s multi-asset absolute return strategies, the most noteworthy are two funds which are both managed flexibly and domiciled in Luxembourg: the first, “Multi-Strategy”, is a multi-strategy, absolute return fund launched in 2008, flexible and of long-biased duration, it targets a return above liquidity of between 3.5% and 4.5%;  and the second, “Multi-Strategy Growth”, is a somewhat more aggressive version which aims to beat the cash at between 5% and 6%. “We intend to provide stable returns by focusing on risk, without relying on the beta, and with relative value strategies playing a key role,” he explains.

In general, Pioneer’s multi-asset strategies (both funds of funds and direct investment or absolute return focused multi-assets) are based on four pillars of management. The first is the macro, in which managers obtain a main scenario which leads them to favor some assets over others and some regions over others (for example, it can lead them to be positive with Europe or the US dollar but avoid investing in emerging markets, except for in some of them, such as India). The second pillar is macro hedging: a group of hedging specialists, critical of the risk taken in macro strategy, is dedicated to analyzing those risks, their probability, and their potential impact on the portfolios. For example, now they consider that there are risks of a hard landing in China, a bubble in their markets, the possibility that the rate hikes in the US occur too quickly, or too slowly, that there is deflation in Europe … and they analyze the impact on the portfolios. “If they believe that the odds are high, they use hedges,” explains the expert, and such hedgingcan be easily implemented, with gold, for example, or more complex, with derivatives and swaps.

The third pillar is based on relative value satellite strategies, favoring an asset, country, sector, or currency over others … For example, in emerging markets they favor countries that have made reforms, such as India, over those which are debt ridden, and are committed to long positions in this Asian country as opposed to short positions in currencies of countries like Hungary or Brazil. The idea is that these strategies are not correlated with each other or with the macro vision. And the fourth pillar is that of selection, which tries not to replicate the macro vision, and which is a key aspect in funds of funds strategies, but not as much for those of absolute return. In fact, these pillars have different weights depending on whether the multi-asset portfolios are funds of funds, direct investments, or absolute return.

Currently, the management company has 2 billion Euros in multi-asset absolute return strategies, but feels very comfortable, however, and believes they can grow further. “We could manage 20 billion,” says the expert.

Staying Invested in a Volatile Market Requires Keeping a Steady Head and a Clear Strategy

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Staying Invested in a Volatile Market Requires Keeping a Steady Head and a Clear Strategy
Foto por A Guy Taking Pictures . Mantenerse invertido en un mercado volátil requiere tener la cabeza firme y una estrategia clara

In a global environment of financial and geopolitical crises, divergent economic growth and a dichotomy of monetary policies among developed markets, volatility has dominated the investment dialogue and many professionals agree that it is here to stay.

In your search for positive returns you should remember to keep a steady head and a clear strategy—including a diversified range of investment opportunities—to help navigate the current market volatility.

Firstly, do not let fear and emotions decide your investment strategy. Unfortunately, after many years of low volatility, making sense of the current environment without giving free range to your emotions can prove challenging. Above all, you need to always remember that you are invested for the long run. You should maintain this long-term perspective, and avoid turning over your positions too often with the market’s ups and downs. “Timing the market” and trying to sell stocks when you think the market is about to decline, and buy when you think it is about to rise, is difficult to do successfully with consistency and can be quite risky for your portfolio. For example, if you had invested $100,000 in the S&P 500 Index between January 1st, 1995, and December 31st, 2014 your initial investment would have grown to $654,055. However, missing just the FIVE best days would have cost you over $200,000,

Also important to note is that diversification has changed. Having a bond and stock portfolio is no longer sufficient to ensure effective diversification and consistent returns. Given current market conditions, if you want to protect your investments and/or take advantage of all the potential opportunities in the market, you need to cast a wider net across variety of assets, including active, index and multi-asset strategies as well as nontraditional investments.  While nothing can guarantee consistent outperformance, enhanced diversification does expand your sources of risk and return.

To increase your portfolio’s chances of success, considering the following actions:

  1. Build a better bond portfolio – Analyze why it is you want exposure to bonds, and look for the best fixed-income tools for your particular case. For example, an unconstrained bond strategy and the flexibility it gives you, might be useful in navigating interest rate risks.
  2. Increase global exposure – The same techniques for diversifying via sector and asset classes, can be applied to geography. International exposure, to the right markets, can offer better returns than just investing in your domestic market.
  3. Look for dividend paying stocks – This strategy can help provide much-needed downside protection in difficult environments while participating in up markets.  Although there is no guarantee that companies will continue to pay dividends, this income can help smooth volatility in unpredictable markets.
  4. Expand to other asset classes– By creating a more diverse and flexible portfolio you start to take advantage of all the financial markets have to offer. This may require seeking opportunity in places you have never looked before such as Real Estate or Long-short funds. It also warrants the use of a wider variety of active, index and multi-asset strategies.

In today’s environment of low growth it is important to use all tools, from the precision exposures allowed by exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the unbridled reach and flexibility afforded by unconstrained active strategies, to achieve your investment goals.

 

 

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Disclaimer:

This material is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares of any Fund (nor shall any such shares be offered or sold to any person) in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of that jurisdiction. If any funds are mentioned or inferred to in this material, it is possible that some or all of the funds have not been registered with the securities regulator in any Latin American and Iberian country and thus might not be publicly offered within any such country. The securities regulators of such countries have not confirmed the accuracy of any information contained herein.

Frédéric Janbon Appointed Head of the Asset Management Business of BNP Paribas

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Frédéric Janbon Appointed Head of the Asset Management Business of BNP Paribas
Photo: Frédéric Janbon, new Head of BNP Paribas IP. Frédéric Janbon Appointed Head of the Asset Management Business of BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas announced the appointment of Frédéric Janbon as Head of BNP Paribas Investment Partners (IP), the Group’s asset management specialist. He succeeds Philippe Marchessaux, who will support and advise him during a transition period before taking on, at his request, another project within the BNP Paribas Group.

After successfully steering the integration of various asset management teams from ABN Amro AM, Fortis IM and BNP Paribas Investment Partners to build a global-scale asset management business, Philippe Marchessaux worked further to simplify its structure, consolidate its client base and prepare the business for tomorrow’s challenges.

Frédéric Janbon is to take up his new responsibilities on 20 October 2015. His main task will be to further accelerate the development of BNP Paribas Investment Partners as a benchmark player in institutional asset management and client service. Having started his career in 1988, Frédéric has over 25 years’ experience in financial markets. With the BNP Paribas Group he served in various management positions in the interest rate, derivatives and options markets, before being appointed global head of Fixed Income in 2005, an activity which he successfully steered until the end of 2014. Frédéric Janbon will therefore bring to BNP Paribas Investment Partners his long experience in managing relationships with international institutional investors and in the development of client solutions.

BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said: “BNP Paribas Investment Partners is a key business for the BNP Paribas Group, both in terms of serving our institutional clientele and providing savings & investment solutions to individual retail customers. This business is very much a part of our growth strategy, which focuses on developing businesses where we are able to achieve high performance in order to offer our clients the best products and services.”

Jacques d’Estais, BNP Paribas Group Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Head of International Financial Services, said: “I would like to express my sincere thanks to Philippe for his contribution to the growth of BNP Paribas Investment Partners over these past six years, particularly the international institutional business line. I have every confidence in Frédéric’s ability to reinforce our range of investment solutions for institutional clients, distributors and individual customers in what is a highly strategic business for the BNP Paribas Group.”

WE Family Offices Awarded “Best Family Wealth Management Firm” in Florida and New York

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WE Family Offices Awarded "Best Family Wealth Management Firm" in Florida and New York
WE Family Offices, "Mejor firma de Wealth Management" de Florida y de Nueva York- Foto cedida. Doble galardón para WE Family Offices: "Mejor firma de Wealth Management" de Florida y de Nueva York

WE Family Offices has been awarded with the “Best Family Wealth Management Firm” awards both in Florida and in New York by the Wealth & Finance International 2015 Finance Awards.

After months of voting, research and hard choices, the publication has finally decided on the worthy winners of this year’s awards, celebrating the service, skill and dedication of individuals and firms across a multitude of financial disciplines and sizes; from local to national players, from single-office firms to international juggernauts, the firm celebrates them all.

The 2015 Finance Awards were developed to recognise and reward excellence, best practice and innovation in finance, and were open to individuals and firms operating and working in a wide range of industries, including personal finance, corporate finance, accountancy and financial management, reaching out to thefour corners of the globe.

“To be named a Finance Award winner is no mean feat: it is not only a “stamp” of professional excellence, it is also a badge of merit, integrity and leadership”, Wealth & Finance International said in its announcement.

Mirabaud Offers Grim Outlook on the Spanish Financial Sector

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According to Fabio Mostacci, Senior analyst at Mirabaud Securities Spain, the Spanish financial sector will present weak revenues and a lower net income on a qoq basis. “We expect that this upcoming quarter will not deviate meaningfully from the general trends seen during previous quarters. In general terms, we expect good asset quality trends to be partially offset by declining NII due to weak volumes, continued pressure on loan pricing and declining contributions from the ALCO portfolios. In other words, we anticipate that the market perception of a lack of core revenue growth will be confirmed.”

Although they are expecting that deposit repricing will fuel growth in net income, analysts at Mirabaud, anticipate “a sequential decline for all of the banks we cover. This is mainly due to lower contribution from ALCO portfolios following the decision of most of the banks to sell part of the exposure and crystallize capital gains in Q2, and/or to swap part of the portfolios to reduce duration risk.”

They predict that commissions should confirm the positive trend on a year – on – year basis, but sequential growth should be negative due to seasonality and to the weak market performance throughout the summer, which negatively affected asset management commissions. “As for other revenues, we expect trading income to substantially decline towards normalized quarterly run rates following exceptionally high levels over the last few quarters.”

Mirabaud also anticipates asset quality to keep improving on the back of the supportive macro backdrop and pick up of real estate prices.  Given that in 1S15 many banks frontloaded a sizable part of their expected provisioning effort for the year,  Mirabaud expects that the sequential decline of provisions should be meaningful.

Spanish banks will present their results according to the following list:

 

Matthews Asia Launches Credit Opportunities Fund, Adding to its Offshore Line-Up

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Matthews Asia lanza un fondo de crédito en Asia con enfoque total return que se suma a su oferta offshore
Satya Patel and Teresa Kong, portfolio managers of the Credit Opportunities Fund. Matthews Asia Launches Credit Opportunities Fund, Adding to its Offshore Line-Up

Matthews Asia has launched the Credit Opportunities Fund, the newest fund to its offshore line-up, which invests in all countries and markets in Asia, including developed, emerging, and frontier countries and markets in the Asian region.

The Matthews Asia Credit Opportunities Fund intends to distribute its dividends quarterly for the Distribution share classes. Teresa Kong, portfolio manager at Matthews Asia leads the team with Satya Patel. Most bonds in the portfolio will be sub-investment grade, or so-called ‘high yield’ bonds.

The aim of the Matthews Asia Credit Opportunities Fund is to provide investors with a compelling fixed income investment solution that offers yield enhancement and diversification. Asia high yield credit has historically generated attractive returns compared to assets of similar risk: about 10% annualized returns with 10% annualized volatility. By identifying compelling opportunities in the growing Asia credit universe, the asset manager hopes to generate an attractive risk-adjusted return profile over the long run.

The firm points out that Asia has a large and liquid corporate bond market and, as a relatively under-researched asset class, it provides opportunities to potentially benefit not only from attractive levels of yield, but also capital appreciation. The fund intends to leverage Matthews Asia’s 24 years of experience in Asia equity and fixed income security selection to effectively manage this strategy.

Asia’s contribution to global growth continues to grow and the region generally has high levels of foreign currency reserves, high personal savings rates, and low levels of inflation, particularly when compared to Latin America, Russia, and Central and Eastern Europe. Currency regimes across the region have become more flexible over the past 15 years, which generally facilitates more flexible monetary policy by countries in the region. Currencies in the region can be volatile, which is one reason why the Matthews Asia Credit Opportunities Fund focuses primarily on U.S. dollar-denominated investments.

 

Cantor & Webb to Work with Markit ǀ CTI Tax Solutions to Expand Ability to Address Tax Withholding and Compliance Issues

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Cantor & Webb to Work with Markit ǀ CTI Tax Solutions to Expand Ability to Address Tax Withholding and Compliance Issues
Foto: Randy Heinitz . Cantor & Webb trabajará con Markit ǀ CTI Tax Solutions para ampliar servicios relacionados con FATCA o CRS

Cantor Webb will work with Markit | CTI Tax Solutions to expand its offerings related to the classification and compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) and the Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”). This will enable broader representation forexisting as well as new clients who need to comply with unprecedented levels of regulatory initiatives, which are designed to promote tax transparency.

Markit | CTI Tax Solutionshas participated in numerous committees and working groups including the IRS Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (“ETAAC”), the IRS Information Reporting Public Advisory Committee (“IRPAC”), the OECD CRS Working Group, and the HMRC FATCA Working Group. Through its products and services, it provides customers with the tools they need to comply with evolving regulatory requirements.

“Now, more than ever, clients need experienced advisors with a practical, global focus designed to assist them in successfully navigating these complexities”, said Cantor & Webb, an international tax and estate planning law firm focused on the representation of high net worth international private clients.

Asia Challenges North America as Most Active Continent for Venture Capital Deals in Q3 2015

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Asia Challenges North America as Most Active Continent for Venture Capital Deals in Q3 2015
Foto: James Kim . Asia amenaza la hegemonía norteamericana como región más activa en operaciones de venture capital

Venture capital deals in Asia comprised 38% of the global number, and 45% of global deal value in the quarter, while North America represented 44% of both global number and value.

The venture capital industry in Asia has seen strong growth over the past year, and in Q3 the aggregate value of deals was comparable to the total value of deals in North America. India and China, the largest part of the Asian industry, marked 709 financings in the quarter, worth a combined $16.9bn.

There were 932 venture capital deals in North America in the same period, worth an aggregate $17.5bn. Asia’s share of global deal flow has increased by seven percentage points from Q2 to Q3 2015, and its share of deal value has increased by nine percentage points. At the same time, the North American market share of the number of deals dropped by six percentage points from Q2, while the aggregate value that the region contributed to the global total fell by nine percentage points from 53% inQ2 to 44% in Q3.

Globally, there were 2,121venture capital financings in Q3 2015, worth a combined $39.8bn. Although this marks a 9% drop in deal numbers from Q3 2014, the aggregate value is 88% higher than the same period last year.

Europe is declining and China increasing the value of deals. Europe witnessed 297 deals in Q3, a 7% drop from last quarter. In 2015 YTD, 980 deals have been seen in the region, a 25% decrease from the 1,307 deals in the first three quarters of 2014. On its side, in Q3 2015, the aggregate value of deals in Greater China increased 88% from Q1. In that quarter, there were 252 deals worth a combined $6.9bn, while in Q3 there were 437 deals, worth $13bn.

Other findings show that angel and seed investments comprised 22% of venture capital deals in Q3, unchanged from Q2. Series A deals comprised 20% of the number of deals, and series B comprised 10%. Add-on deals decreased from 8% of the number of deals in Q2 to 5% in Q3.

The mean value of venture capital deals has increased across all financing stages from 2014 to 2015 YTD. Average series A deal value has increased 35%, from $7.9mn in 2014 to $10.7mn for 2015 YTD. Average venture debt deal size was stable in 2013 and 2014, at $9.7mnand $9.6mn respectively, but has now increased to $40.9mn in 2015 YTD.

The two largest investments in Q3 2015 were both in Chinese transport technology firm Didi Kuaidi.The company received $2bn in July, and a further $1bn in September, from a consortium of investors including Alibaba and CIC. The next largest financing was $1bn to Uber Technologies Inc., from Microsoft and Times Internet. Nine of the ten biggest venture capital deals in Q3 were based in Asia.

The unspent capital available to venture capital firms currently stands at $143bn globally, up slightly from the $141bn in dry powder recorded at the end of last quarter.

“The venture capital industry is developing in two different directions between emerging and mature markets. In emerging markets, particularly in Asia, rapidly developing economies like China and India are providing increasing numbers of opportunities for investors and fund managers. While average deal size is increasing slightly, the key driver of growth is the increasing number of deals.

In the more mature markets of North America and Europe, deal numbers have fallen, and the total number of deals in 2015 so far is a quarter lower than in the first three quarters of 2014. However, average deal sizes are still rising in these regions, especially for later stage and debt financings, and now stand at record levels. Declared Christopher Elvin, Head of Private Equity Products–Preqin.

 

 

European Fund Administration: Innovative Information Technology and Sustainability

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With the objective to promote innovation and sustainability, European Fund Administration (EFA) has recently upgraded its IT infrastructure to offer clients fund administration services powered by a state-of-the-art and green IT platform.

To guarantee best performance and permanent continuity of EFA’s services, the infrastructure, distributed across two IT rooms, individually sized to operate all production activities are now both hosted in certified Tier-IV data centers.

Jean-Marc Verdure, Director of IT, Organization & General Services says: “Our applications are running on mission critical computer systems hosted in award-winning Tier-IV data centers offering the highest level of availability with fully redundant subsystems, supervised and managed on a 24/7 basis. In the event of a technical incident or unavailability of a data center, a partial or overall take-over of our services and applications can be done instantaneously in a single data center”.

This upgrade has also enabled EFA to renew hardware and systems with sustainable and eco- friendly components and processes (materials, cooling systems, power consumption management, recycling…) to promote a better approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. 
To confirm its commitment in behaving responsibly by integrating environmental concerns into business operations, EFA was also recently awarded the EcoVadisCorporate Social Responsibility silver rating.

Pioneer Investments’ Miami Forum “Embrace New Sources of Return” Gathers Attendance of 50 Investors from Across Latin America and the U.S.

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Pioneer Investments acoge a 50 inversores de Latinoamérica y Estados Unidos en la conferencia “Embrace New Sources of Return”
Conference "Embrace New Sources of Return" hosted by Pioneer Investments in Miami. Pioneer Investments’ Miami Forum “Embrace New Sources of Return” Gathers Attendance of 50 Investors from Across Latin America and the U.S.

Last week, Pioneer Investments had the pleasure to host an event in Miami under the theme “Embrace New Sources of Return”. Over 50 attendees from Latin America and the U.S. Offshore wealth management industry had the opportunity to listen to Pioneer Investment’s top portfolio managers talking about several topics of interest.

Jimmy Ly, SVP, U.S. Offshore Senior Sales Manager welcomed the delegates and conducted the agenda for the day. During the morning, Piergaetano Iaccarino, Head of Thematic and Disciplined Equity shared Pioneer Investments’ Macroeconomic view for the following months. He was followed by Andrew Feltus, Director of High Yield Bank Loans, who shared his ideas about ‘How to Navigate the Fixed Income Markets, Now and Into the Future.’

Thomas Swaney, Head of Alternative Fixed Income U.S., talked about the role of alternative solutions within credit investing. The morning session ended with a presentation about opportunities in Emerging Markets by Giles Bedford, Client Portfolio Manager of Pioneer Funds – Emerging Markets Corporate High Yield Bond.

After a networking lunch, the program continued with a session about opportunities in U.S. Equities, conducted by Alec Murray, Client Portfolio Manager of Pioneer Funds – U.S. Fundamental Growth. Then came the turn for Income Solutions in today’s economic environment; a topic discussed through a panel in which Piergaetano Iaccarino was joined by Adam MacNulty, Client Portfolio Manager of Pioneer Funds – Global Multi-Asset Target Income. He also shared his thoughts about portfolio construction using non-traditional solutions, such as the Absolute Return Multi-Strategy portfolios.

To wrap up the program, Florian Schneider, Head of Product Research and Development, shared his thoughts about Industry Trends in product and asset management.

Pioneer Investments’Jose Castellano, MD, Head of U.S. Offshore, Latin America, and Iberia, along with Florencia Bunge, SVP, Director of Pioneer Investments’ office in Argentina, joined Jimmy Ly as additional hosts for the event.

You may follow the photos of the event through this link.