Aurora Garza - Foto cedida. Bancomer Transfer Services nombra CEO a Aurora Garza Hagan
Bancomer Transfer Services, the global money transfer services unit that is a part of BBVA‘s U.S. operations, announced this week that Aurora Garza Hagan has been named its new chief executive officer.
Garza Hagan rose up through the ranks at BTS, which currently handles $10 billion out of the $60 billion in funds sent each year to Latin America, the largest remittances corridor in the world. She started in 2001 as a senior accounting analyst and has held various leadership positions, most recently as chief financial officer overseeing all aspects of finance, accounting, treasury management, legal and risk. Before joining BTS, Garza Hagan held senior auditor positions at Ernst & Young and Continental Airlines.
“Aurora brings years of experience to this position,” said BBVA U.S. Country Manager and BBVA Compass Chairman and CEO Manolo Sanchez, who oversees all of BBVA’s U.S. operations, including BTS. “She has a broad view of how to drive our organization, and an excellent command of the level of risk and control required to run this type of business.”
Garza Hagan is taking over as CEO following the departure of Moises Jaimes. She will report to new BTS Chairman Gabriel Palafox. Her appointment is effective immediately and she will be based in Houston.
A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Garza Hagan earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is also a certified public accountant in the state of Texas
Foto: Ines Hegedus-Garcia
. El antiguo Espírito Santo Bank se llamará Brickell Bank
G. Frederick Reinhardt, Chairman and CEO, introduces Brickell Bank, formerly Espírito Santo Bank. “We are excited to be rebranding following the Stock Purchase Agreement recently signed between the bank’s principal shareholder, and members of the Benacerraf family, Cohen family, and other investors,” says Reinhardt.
“We chose Brickell Bank as our new name as it represents the vital and exciting history of Miami and the location where development first took place, where homes, offices and towers rose from raw land to become the banking center of this multi-cultural city,” says Reinhardt. “Miami is recognized as the most important financial center for Latin America and is growing in importance for investors from Europe and Asia. We are proud to bear the mantel of such a prestigious and established moniker,” continued Reinhardt.
“The Share Purchase agreement, while still subject to regulatory approval, brings an extraordinary level of expertise from well-established banking families to Brickell Bank and is a superb catalyst for our growth and continuing dedication to serve our clients,” says Reinhardt.
Brickell Bank will continue to expand its core strategy of providing wealth management, personal and corporate banking services, residential and commercial real estate lending and trade finance services to domestic and international individuals, institutions and corporations.
The existing management team has led the Share Purchase negotiations and the rebranding efforts, and will continue in place.
Brickell Bank will continue to offer Wealth Management services to its Private Banking clients through its broker/dealer, Brickell Global Markets, and investment advisory services through Brickell Global Advisory, a Florida registered investment advisor. (These subsidiaries were formerly known as E.S. Financial Services, Inc. and Espírito Santo Investment Advisors, Inc., respectively).
The transition is taking place now in the offices, the branch and online to reflect the new names, logos, icon and navy and white coloration. According to Mr. Reinhardt, “the vibrant new look reflects a new beginning, but more importantly reaffirms our commitment as a customer-centric institution providing an unparalleled, enhanced and comprehensive range of products, exemplary service and expertise.”
Brickell Bank, Florida-chartered since 1973, will maintain its headquarters and branch both located at 1395 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131. Service to clients will continue uninterrupted during the transition period.
BlackRock celebró su primer ETF Investment Seminar en Miami el pasado día 16 de julio . BlackRock celebra en Miami su primer Seminario de Inversión sobre ETFs
In today’s investment landscape, portfolio construction is evolving, and with it, the combination of passive and active vehicles. ETFs are amongst the fastest growing instruments within the asset management industry and are becoming a crucial part of investors’ portfolios.
To further educate clients on trends, uses and implementation of ETFs in conjunction with active funds within portfolios, BlackRock hosted its first ever ETF Investment Seminar with 50 financial advisors in attendance on July 16th, 2015.
The event featured three sessions covering: Building portfolios with active and passive tools, Trends in the use of ETFs in the wealth management segment, concluding with a special session on Offshore ETFs (domiciled outside the United States).
“The trend in recent years is the migration towards portfolios which blend active and passive management tools,” said Joshua Rogers in his presentation. Rogers, VP, is a Product Consultant within the US iShares Product Group. He provided some interesting data: in the period running from 2011-2014, the United States has produced net outflows of US $370 billion from traditional active management products (especially US equity funds). However, outcome oriented actively managed funds have enjoyed net inflows of US $750 billion (these include alternative funds, income funds, flexible fixed income, sectoral, and multi asset funds), showing that the investor who pays for an active management product, really wants active management. In addition, net inflows in index strategies (index funds and ETFs) during the same period are still much higher, reaching US $1.17 trillion, with a clear acceleration of this trend during 2014.
Thus, investors favor passive management products for exposure to the core portion of their portfolios (e.g. US equities), as well as for implementing asset allocation decisions reached internally, or for tactical short-term investments. However, for strategies aimed at obtaining outcome, illiquid strategies such as alternatives, or in case of wishing to outsource investment decisions within an asset class, as in the case of fixed income, investors continue investing in active strategies. In any case, the trend is clear: increasingly blending both products.
Other relevant details presented by Rogers referred to the need for maintaining even the best active management strategies in the portfolio for long periods to obtain their best results. According to a study by DiMeo Schneider & Associates, in a 10 year period, 90% of funds in the top quartile of their Morningstar category had at least a period of three years in which they did worse than their peers; 63% experienced at least a five-year period of relatively worse performance. In fact, the average holding period for an active fund among US investors is 3-4 years, given they are not being as “patient”, it would be better for them to be “passive”.
On the second session, Ivan Pascual, Managing Director and Head of Wealth Sales for Latam and Iberia at BlackRock (active management products and ETFs), stressed that financial advisors are becoming more akin to the use of ETFs in client portfolios. 65% of financial advisors in the United States already use them, and more than half expect to increase their exposure to these products next year. Moreover, according to a Greenwich Associates survey, 49% of institutional investors surveyed in 2014 maintain ETFs for periods of more than two years, a percentage that is rising compared to previous years. “The inflows come mainly from replacing baskets of stocks and bonds for ETFs, and not so much from substituting actively managed funds for ETFs,” says Pascual.
Financial advisors use ETFs to meet three needs. The most obvious is cost saving. ETFs are a low-cost product for those investors who do not need advice. In this case, income for the broker comes from brokerage commissions. However, the industry is evolving towards a more fee-based model for advice or discretionary management, and less commission-based. Secondly, for the advisory business, ETFs represent a tool to create the core component of the clients’ portfolio, especially in fee-based business models. Lastly, in discretionary management solutions, ETFs are increasingly being used to build the firm’s centralized asset allocation view into the clients’ portfolio, efficiently, and at a lower cost. “We are seeing a ‘Revolution’ rather than an ‘Evolution’ toward ETFs in the wealth management business,” said Pascual. “Also, the importance of the adoption of technology by the end client to obtain financial information should not be overlooked. 45% of customers already use the internet for this purpose and the percentage is growing*. The words most used in search engines for this field are ‘investment, cost, liquidity’, terms which clearly point to ETFs in building portfolios” he says.
Finally, Justin Wheeler, VP, iShares UCITS ETFs Specialist, provided insight into the offshore ETF market, “primarily, those domiciled in European countries. While Ireland and Luxembourg account for almost 2/3rds of European ETF assets, these products are listed on various European stock exchanges such as London, Frankfurt, or Paris”. Offshore ETFs are used not only by European clients, but also for Latin American and Asian investors who increasingly understand the value of these products over their peers listed in the United States. With more than 40 ETF providers in Europe offering over 2,000 products there is extensive choice for investors. According to BlackRock’s monthly ETP Landscape Report, as of April, European ETFs have 500 billion dollars in AUM, and iShares leads this market with a 46% share and 270 different ETFs. The advantages of offshore ETFs for Latin American clients relates mainly to the lack of withholding tax (WHT) applied to ETF distributions, allowing investors to retain more of their returns. “However, investors should be mindful of additional factors, such as the liquidity and execution costs of offshore ETFs, the holding period of the investment, and the distribution yield as these factors impact the extent of the benefits,” adds Wheeler.
Gregory Filippone, BlackRock Offshore Wealth Investment Management Consultant, provided context to the sessions and introduced the BlackRock speakers. Isabel Vento, BlackRock Offshore Wealth Investment Management Consultant, and Eduardo Mora, Director Responsible for the LatAm Offshore Wealth Business, both based in Miami, opened and closed the event respectively.
*Source: BlackRock Global Strategy Heatmap, Survey of Consumer Finance, Towers Watson; 2014.
Manuel Díaz - Photo: Funds Society. Manuel Diaz Joins WE Family Offices as Senior Family Councelor
WE Family Offices, the independent, family-focused wealth management firm, in response to a growing demand for family office services from multi-jurisdictional, ultra-high net worth families, announces the hire of international private wealth executive Manuel Diaz. Mr. Diaz will be based in the Miami office and will use his extensive experience to help WE serve international families from the United States and Latin America.
“As the wealth industry continues to become more globalized, we have seen the growing need to hire individuals who can appropriately serve these cross-shore families,” said Maria Elena Lagomasino, managing partner and CEO of WE Family Offices.
When asked about this critical hire, managing partner Santiago Ulloa comments, “We are thrilled to welcome Manuel to our team. With his numerous years of experience serving wealthy families, he will add critical value for our clients who need a counselor with a sophisticated global perspective and deep international expertise.”
Mr. Diaz’s career in international wealth management spans more than four decades. Beginning his career as an assistant professor of Latin American studies, Mr. Diaz spent 30 years in international private banking at Republic International Bank of New York, where he served as president and CEO. He continued as president of HSBC Private BankingLatin America until he served in a senior position at Safra Bank. Mr. Diaz joined WE Family Offices in July of 2015 as a senior family counselor.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Nicolo caranti, Flickr, Creative Commons. ESMA pone bajo consulta las guías de remuneración que traerá UCITS V, basadas en AIMFD
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation on proposed Guidelines on sound remuneration policies under the UCITS V Directive and AIFMD. The Directive includes rules that UCITS must comply with when establishing and applying a remuneration policy for certain staff categories and the proposed UCITS Remuneration Guidelines further clarify the Directive’s provisions.
The proposed Guidelines aim to ensure a convergent application of the remuneration provisions and will provide guidance on issues such as proportionality, governance of remuneration, requirements on risk alignment and disclosure. The final Guidelines will apply to UCITS management companies and national competent authorities.
Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said: “The consistent, common and uniform application of the UCITS Directive’s remuneration provisions will contribute to convergent supervisory approaches leading to a level-playing field in the fund sector and result in increased investor protection across the EU.These guidelines will encourage the implementation of sound and prudent remuneration policies and organisational requirements for UCITS, which will help in avoiding potential conflicts of interest and promote prudent risk-taking by fund managers.”
Proposals
The draft Guidelines are based on those already issued on remuneration under the AIFMD, with certain differences that take into account those differences between the two Directives, as the UCITS V remuneration principles broadly reflect those under the AIFMD. In developing these guidelines, ESMA co-operated with the European Banking Authority with the objective of aligning guidance on remuneration policies across financial sectors.
The key elements of the guidelines include:
-Management companies as part of a group – the guidelines clarify that in a group context, non-UCITS sectoral prudential supervisors of group entities may deem certain staff of the UCITS management company which is part of that group to be identified staff for the purpose of their sectoral remuneration rules;
-Definition of performance fees – sets out a common definition of performance fees based on the IOSCO Final report on elements of international regulatory standards on fees and expenses of investment funds;
-Application of different sectoral rules – includes proposals on how different rules, such as those set out in the AIFMD and in the CRD IV, should apply where employees or other categories of personnel perform services subject to different sectoral remuneration principles;
-Application of the rules to delegates – sets out proposals to prevent management companies circumventing the remuneration rules through the delegation of activities to external service providers; and
-Payment in instruments – provides guidance on how to comply with the rules on the payment of variable remuneration in instruments under the UCITS Directive.
In addition the Consultation Paper also examines the issue of proportionality in the application of the UCITS remuneration policies including the possibility to disapply certain of the provisions in exceptional circumstances, in line with the AIFMD approach.
AIFMD Remuneration Guidelines Revision
The Consultation Paper also proposes a revision of the AIFMD Remuneration Guidelines by clarifying that in a group context, non-AIFM sectoral prudential supervisors of group entities may deem certain staff of an AIFM in that group to be identified staff for the purpose of their sectoral remuneration rules.
Next Steps
ESMA will consider the feedback received to the consultation and will aim to finalise and publish the UCITS Remuneration Guidelines and a final report by Q1 2016 ahead of the transposition deadline for UCITS V Directive (18 March 2016). The final report is expected to also include the revision of the AIFMD Remuneration Guidelines as proposed in the consultation paper.
Photo: Jimmy Baikovicius. Picton to Act as Distribution Intermediary for Barings in the Chilean Pension Funds Industry
Baring Asset Management (Barings), the international investment management firm, and Picton announced that they have entered into a distribution agreement, effective June 2015. Picton will promote Barings to position the firm’s investment products and services within the pension funds industry in Chile.
Angus Woolhouse, global head of distribution at Barings said: “We are excited to work with Picton to promote our global investment capabilities in the Chilean pension fundsindustry. Barings manages money for some of the world’s largest global pension plans, and working with pension plans in Chile is a natural extension of our business.”
“Picton is proud to partner with Barings, a firm with a long and successful history in the global asset management industry,” said Matias Eguiguren, founding partner, Picton.”We look forward to a strong relationship driven by Barings’ investment capabilities and our broad and deep knowledge of the pension funds industry in Chile.”
Picton will provide due diligence, product information and analysis to pension funds and serve as a liaison point between them and Barings’ sales team. Barings has a strong track record of doing business in Latin America stretching back to the 19th century and has US$39.7 billion in assets under management as at 30 June 2015.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrBBVA chairman, Francisco González . BBVA is Now the Leading Shareholder in Turkey's Garanti Bank
Spanish bank BBVA is now the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey’s largest bank in terms of market capitalization. After completing the transaction announced last November to acquire an additional 14.89% holding, the BBVA Group now owns to 39.90% of Garanti. Francisco González is in Istanbul due to the closing of the transaction and the appointment of the new Garanti CEO.
The total price paid by BBVA of the 14.89% stake amounts to 8.765 Turkish liras per share, amounting to approximately 5.481 billion Turkish liras (€1.854 billion). The sellers have already received the dividend disclosed by Garanti Bank on April 9, 2015 amounting to 0.135 Turkish liras per share. Therefore, as disclosed to the markets on November 19th, 2014, the total consideration received by the sellers amounts to 8.90 Turkish liras per share.
BBVA chairman Francisco González said, “This is an important day in BBVA’s history. After four years of excellent relations between the partners BBVA has become the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey’s best bank.”
“During our collaboration, we have closely witnessed the enthusiasm of a world banking giant like BBVA for Garanti , as well as its trust in our values, our corporate culture and our team who is passionately committed to its work,” added Ferit Sahenk, chairman of Garanti and the Dogus Group. This operation confirms the excellent relationship between the partners as well as the commitment of Dogus, which is one of the main Turkish business groups and the founder of Garanti. Dogus will retain the chairmanship of Garanti’s board of directors and still owns a 10 percent stake in Garanti.
Francisco González is in Istanbul due to the closing of the transaction and the appointment of the new Garanti CEO, Fuat Erbil. His appointment, which was ratified today by Garanti’s board, confirms the continuity of the company’s management and support for local talent. Until now Mr. Erbil was part of Garanti’s management team.
The new CEO is one of the seven directors to be appointed by BBVA in a board of ten members. Dogus remains as a shareholder and a principal partner – as established in last November’s agreement. Ergun Özen, chief executive officer until now, will continue as board director. The change of chief executive officer will be effective from September.
Closing of the operation
In accordance with the applicable accounting rules and as a consequence of the agreements reached, the BBVA Group shall measure at fair value its previously acquired stake in Garanti Bank (which amounts to 25.01% of its share capital). Such accounting impact does not translate into any additional cash outflow from BBVA. It will result in a one-off negative impact on the net attributable profit of the BBVA Group in the third quarter of 2015 of about €1.8 billion. Most of this impact is generated by the exchange rate differences due to the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the euro since the initial acquisition by BBVA of the 25.01% stake in Garanti Bank in 2011. These exchange rate differences are already registered as Other Comprehensive Income, deducting the stock shareholder’s equity of the BBVA Group.
In terms of capital, the acquisition will mean an estimated reduction of approximately 50 basis points in the Common Equity Tier 1 (fully loaded) ratio.
From here on BBVA will fully consolidate Garanti Bank in the financial statements of the Group. So far it has accounted for this business using the equity method.
Garanti is the top bank in Turkey by market capitalization (€11.1 billion) with about $100.9 billion in assets at the end of March. With consolidated data, it serves more than 13 million customers through an extensive retail network of more than 1,100 branches and over 4,400 ATMs. It is the top institution among private banks in Turkey in terms of mortgages, consumer finance, vehicle finance and credit card customers. Staff number over 22,700.
Leadership in technology is part of Garanti’s competitive edge. Its investment in technology, in-house developments, personalized customer solutions and the management’s driving emphasis on innovation have made it a pioneer in digital banking. At Garanti 91% of transactions are handled through digital channels. Garanti is the Turkish leader in mobile banking with a 30% market share and it holds a solid position in online banking with a 23% market share by volume of transactions.
Turkey’s population is more than 75 million and over half are less than 30 years old. BBVA Research puts the average annual growth of Turkey’s GDP at 4% for 2014-2024.
Foto: Emilio Jose Mariel, Flickr, Creative Commons.. La industria de fondos, ¿qué tendencia prevalecerá en el futuro?
AXA Investment Managers has announced the launch of the AXA World Funds Euro Credit Total Return (the Fund). This is the latest addition to AXA IM’s euro credit range, which now has a total AuM of €8.6 billion of assets.
The fund manager aims to deliver a risk-adjusted return superior to market segmented performance over the credit cycle. The fund offers investors an unconstrained approach to the European credit market, with the ability to deviate substantially from what is considered the market benchmark in terms of portfolio composition. The portfolio’s construction is based on diversified allocation across three risk buckets, including defensive, carry and value, which have been defined by their intrinsic fundamental and market drivers. The fund has ample flexibility to modulate its risk profile across the credit cycle to optimise returns.
Ismael Lecanu, Senior Portfolio Managerof the AXA WF Euro Credit Total Return commented: “With strong structural support provided by the European Central Bank, we are constructive on the outlook for the European recovery and believe that there are ample investment opportunities thanks to disintermediation, innovation and regulation. These opportunities call for a flexible approach as they shift the market behaviour.The Euro Credit Total Return fund builds on the success of our AWF Euro Credit Plus flagship fund and its superior risk-return across the challenging banking and periphery crisis. It offers an unconstrained approach, which we believe suits the current market environment and aims to maximise returns. The strategy enables our clients to benefit from a more concentrated approach that truly reflects our high convictions.”
Supporting Ismael Lecanu is a dedicated team of five euro credit specialists averaging 13 years’ experience. The team has in-depth knowledge of the European credit market and strong relationships with key issuers.
Anne Velot, Head of Euro Credit at AXA IM, added: “The eurozone credit market is becoming increasingly diverse. Despite political uncertainties in the region, we believe that the market remains attractive as European companies have maintained a disciplined management of balance sheets and cash flows since the crisis. We are seeing significant demand from clients for a non-benchmarked approach aimed at maximising total returns through income and growth.The AXA WF Euro Credit Total Returnresponds to this demand, following a disciplined, fundamentally-driven investment process, backed by our long-term proven capability in credit selection and macro positioning.”
AXA WF Euro Credit Total Returnis a Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV. The fund has both retail and institutional share classes and is currently registered in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy (institutional only), Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
AXA IM is a market leader in euro credit fixed income strategies, where the investment team carries out active tactical allocation across the full spectrum of euro corporate credit, both investment grade and high yield. The team’s access to markets is supported by AXA IM’s critical size and globally-recognised credit expertise. AXA IM has €460 billion in fixed income assets managed globally, of which €360 billion in credit.
Thalius Hecksher - Foto LinkedIn. Thalius Hecksher, nuevo director general de Servicios de Administración de Fondos de Trident Trust Group
Trident Fund Services has appointed Thalius Hecksher to the newly formed position of Global Director. Hecksher will be based out of Miami /Fort Lauderdale and will have responsibility for leading the growth of the global independent fund administrator, division of the Trident Trust Group (TTG).
With Hecksher joining, TTG now has a new presence in Florida to support the growing Private Equity, Funds Business, Private Banking and Wealth Management. In his new role, he will coordinate the development of Trident’s global fund administration footprint, building on the Group’s 37-year track record and presence in 24 jurisdictions.
“We have a strong and growing fund services business, supporting clients with $30 billion in assets under management. In the last five years we have opened fund administration offices in Luxembourg, Malta and Singapore and significantly increased the scale of our U.S. operations,” explains Adam Gold, Trident Trust’s Head of Group Strategy and Development. “Thalius brings experience and talent to our global team. We are delighted he has joined us.”
Hecksher brings over 20 years’ experience in the global financial markets, specializing inhedge funds, private equity, liquid alternatives, family offices and wealth management across the Americas, UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia and the growing African market. He is a frequent media commentator on the asset management industry and is Southeast U.S. Chapter Director of the Hedge Fund Association (HFA).
“I’m very excited to be joining the Trident Fund Services team and to be working in an organization with one of the longest track records in the business, global recognition and the long-term support of its clients built on a 37-year history of reliable delivery,” says Hecksher. “Trident Fund Services has a truly global platform and a team of exceptional professionals. I’m looking forward to working with the existing team to help the business reach its full potential.”
Russian equities are among the cheapest in the world amid political and economic controversy. Yet investors might be surprised to discover that the rapidly developing retail industry offers undervalued opportunities with attractive return potential, said AB experts.
Russian equities are trading at an average P/E ratio of 6.5x versus the emerging-market average of 12.5x. There are good reasons for the discount: Russia’s economy is under severe pressure because of a weaker oil price and international sanctions as a result of its role in the conflict in Ukraine. The ruble has plunged versus the US dollar, inflation has shot up and Russia’s GDP is shrinking. Ordinary Russians are feeling the pinch in the form of declining real incomes.
“So, even the most contrarian investor needs to tread very cautiously before venturing into Russian stocks. That said, we believe selected large Russian food retailers represent a compelling structural opportunity for investors given the long-term modernization and consolidation of the country’s food retail industry”, points out Henry S. D’Auria, Chief Investment Officer, Emerging Markets Value Equities at AB, and Justin Moreau, research associate in the team.
Room to Grow?
In size terms, the industry is potentially massive; Russia’s population is as large as Germany and France combined. However, modern supermarkets remain relatively few and far between and the industry is still highly fragmented. The biggest retail chains have been expanding rapidly. Together, they’ve rolled out more than 2,000 new stores in each of the last five years. But they still have lots of room to grow and to win greater market share.
This growth potential doesn’t seem to be priced into the big Russian food retailers’ valuations, which look cheap compared with many of their emerging-market peers, opine both AB experts.
This is particularly surprising since they’re highly profitable. In other countries, intense competitive pressures have resulted in price wars, driving down industry-wide profitability. In Russia, these pressures are kept in check because the country’s vast geography and harsh climate represent significant logistical barriers to entry. Western food retailers have largely decided to stay away. The challenging business environment, economic sanctions and their unfamiliarity with the local market have persuaded them not to target Russia.
Riding out a Spending Squeeze
“Clearly, declining wages and soaring prices could curb Russian spending on food. Retailers are also pressured by government food import restrictions. Imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products are banned from countries that imposed sanctions in protest at Russia’s role in Ukraine. The resulting shortages are making some items still more expensive. In this challenging environment, we think the big players are much better positioned to thrive than smaller chains and stand-alone stores” said D’Auria and Moreau.
The biggest modern chains are relatively young companies, having emerged in the 1990s and become publicly listed in the last 10 years. But they’ve fast gained the size and reach that we regard as key ingredients for success in today’s food retailing market.
Russia’s economic woes have driven down both labor and real estate costs—the big players’ two largest operating expenses. This should make it cheaper for them to open more stores in future—providing yet another boost to their consolidation prospects.
“Russia isn’t an obvious investment target in these difficult times. But because many investors are steering clear of the region, it’s an opportune moment to take a strategic look at the market. In our view, the retail sector is a good place for investors to shop for bargains that should benefit from structural change during current economic and political uncertainties, as well as—in the long run—when the conflict is ultimately resolved”.
