Assets in ETFs/ETPs listed in the United States reached a new record 2.132 trillion US dollars at the end of April according to ETFGI’s preliminary monthly global insight report for this month.
The US ETF/ETP industry had 1,703 ETFs/ETPs, from 76 providers listed on 3 exchanges at the end of April 2015.
Record levels of assets were reached at the end of April for ETFs/ETPs listed globally at US$2.998 trillion, in the United States at US$2.132 trillion, Europe at US$511 billion, Asia Pacific ex-Japan at US$125 billion, Japan at US$112 billion and Canada at US$69.9 billion.
“Market performance outside the United States contributed to the overall increase in assets invested in ETFs/ETPs. Developed and emerging markets had a very good month, gaining 5% and 8%, respectively while in the United States the S&P 500 and Dow were up less than 1%”, according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner of ETFGI.
In April 2015, ETFs/ETPs saw net inflows of US$14.6 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with US$11.3 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$3.7 Bn, while commodity ETFs/ETPs saw net outflows of US$1.0 Bn.
Year to date through end of April 2015, ETFs/ETPs in listed in the United States have gathered a record level of net inflows of US$72.1 Bn more than double the prior record of US$34.9 Bn set at this time in 2014. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest net inflows YTD with US$41.3 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$21.8 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$3.2 Bn in net inflows.
iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in April with US$7.7 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$7.2 Bn, Deutsche with US$4.7 Bn, WisdomTree with US$4.0 Bn and First Trust with US$1.9 Bn in net inflows.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Eduardo Marquetti. Brazil: Seeing Through the Scandal
Paulo Roberto Costa, a former senior executive at Petrobras, the Brazilian state energy company, was arrested on charges of money laundering early last year. At first it seemed like any another corruption case. But then Mr Costa began to talk. The evidence he gave began to lift the veil on the largest corruption scandal in Brazilian history. In twelve months it has snowballed: nearly 50 politicians have been implicated, including the Treasurer of the governing Workers’ Party and the speakers of both houses of Congress. The scandal has overshadowed more positive political developments, hurting investor sentiment and casting a shadow over an already beleaguered economy.
The prospect of class action by institutional investors darkens an already grim outlook for the state-controlled company, although Investec feels one of the big outstanding risks, that the company fails to issue audited accounts, is an unlikely outcome. Petrobras issuing audited accounts, and the sentencing of those found guilty, should go some way to drawing a line under the scandal. The lack of evidence implicating President Dilma Rousseff would suggest her impeachment being unlikely.
Overall, experts at Investec feel the political impact of the scandal will recede and market sentiment should begin to recover in the months ahead, although given the important role that Petrobras plays in the economy – it accounts for around 10% of capital investment and 6% of GDP – the headwinds to growth will be significant, especially given the knock on impact on a number of other large companies linked to the scandal. The growth outlook is further hampered by the prospect of additional water rationing as well as the increasing likelihood of energy rationing. The country is suffering its worst drought in 80 years, which has particularly hit the economically vital Sao Paulo region. While recent heavy rain has helped alleviate the situation, water rationing may continue for some time yet while some energy rationing cannot be ruled out sometime in the year which would further weigh on the industrial sector.
These two exogenous shocks have come at a time of acute weakness in the Brazilian economy, point out the analisys by Investec. GDP growth has collapsed since the heady days of the 2000s. Brazil’s external and fiscal positions have weakened significantly, inflation is at a 9-year high and the real has halved in value since 20103. Robust growth during the 2000-10 period was largely the result of strong commodity exports and with the commodities supercycle seemingly over, the lack of diversity in the economy has become all too apparent. This dynamic is also at the heart of the weakening external position. The current account deficit has been on a worsening trend for the last eight years, partly driven by the trade balance, and in particular the lower value of commodities.
Brazil’s fiscal position has also deteriorated markedly. In 2014 the country recorded its first primary budget deficit (i.e a government budget deficit before interest payments) of the century. However, the new finance minister, Joaquin Levy, is seen as a credible technocrat and he has pledged to restore fiscal sustainability and transparency, commented the firm. The methods by which primary surplus targets were met have been in question in the past few years. To this end, the government’s target this year is for a primary budget surplus of 1.2% and pledged fiscal tightening measures such as reduction in unemployment benefits and cuts in discretionary spending. The political outlook is also supported by a number of small reforms in the pipeline, which on aggregate should underpin growth over the medium to longer term.
Of particular note, the lower house has approved legislation that will improve labour market flexibility. Notably this bill was opposed by Dilma’s Workers’ Party, but with the legislation containing significant changes from Mr Levy, this should ensure the bill passes both the Senate and gets signed into law by the President. So while the reform agenda may not be on the same scale as India, the outlook is much more positive than Dilma’s first term and a lot more positive than investors were envisaging even just a few months ago. The central bank is also trying to regain some of its credibility, with Governor Tombini vowing to bring inflation back towards the official target of 4.5%. He has subsequently restarted the rate hiking cycle. Brazil’s benchmark rate now stands at a six-year high of 12.75% after a cumulative 175 basis point increase since September, up 5.5% since the beginning of the tightening cycle in 2013.
Currency risks remain to the downside, particularly through further deterioration in the country’s terms of trade. We have generally held an underweight exposure to the Brazilian real over the last few months which has added to relative performance. For now, however, we are neutrally positioned. While the risks to the currency remain to the downside, with reference rates at 12.75%, it is an expensive currency to remain underweight and given the sell-off in recent months we are unconvinced about the scope for further weakness.
“We have maintained an overweight position in local duration as we are positive on the long term fundamentals. The headwinds from the Petrobras scandal and the weakening real have ensured this position has hurt relative performance over the last few months. However, we have favoured longer-dated bonds which have held up relatively well as the increased credibility of the new economics team has helped underpin the long-end of the Brazilian yield curve. While it is unlikely that the ambitious primary surplus target will be met, it has at least encouraged the ratings agencies, and we expect them to give Mr Levy time to implement fiscal adjustments and so we believe the sovereign credit rating will remain investment grade. We feel the sell-off in yields has been excessive, given the long term fundamentals, but we felt it prudent to reduce our position from a risk perspective. In hard currency bonds, we moved to an overweight position in February after spreads widened to levels we viewed as oversold. As the crisis receded in March/April spreads have compressed from a peak of 375 to around 290 at the time of writing”, concluded Investec.
The next few months will require careful monitoring, but over the longer term Investec is still optimistic about the ability of the government’s new economics team to make the appropriate adjustments to help repair the Brazilian economy.
It is likely to be a year of difficult adjustment in Brazil and it will likely remain one of the more vulnerable large markets in the GBI-EM universe. However, over the longer term we are encouraged that the government is taking the first steps to regain market credibility and make the necessary reforms the country so desperately needs.
The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was up +0.1% in April. 3 out of 12 Lyxor Indices ended the month in positive territory, led by the Lyxor LS Equity Long Bias Index (+4.5%), the Lyxor LS Equity Market Neutral Index (+2.4%), and the Lyxor Merger Arbitrage Index (+0.7%), explained “The Alternative Investment Industry Barometer” published by Lyxor AM.
“A complex asset rotation is unwinding the key year-to-date trades. Powerful flows and technical dynamics are at play, but it’s not the end of the reflation story” says Jeanne Asseraf-Bitton, Global Head of Cross Asset Research at Lyxor AM.
Oil prices rallied through the month from improved EIA forecasts and US stocks accumulation starting to slow down. The Greece-Troika negotiations paced markets headlines on roller- coaster mode. In the second half of the month, EMU markets got seized in the cross currents of profit taking and QE trades unwinding. Eurozone equities netted a 1% gain while Germany’s 10Y yields bounced back 10bps from lows, followed by UST. Despite weaker US data, equity markets benefitted from a decent earning season. In EM, stocks got lifted by Chinese markets reflecting monetary easing efforts and driven by market liberalization, commented the firm.
L/S Equity funds were by far the outperformers in April with the long bias up +4.5%. Within the space, Asian managers stood out, boosted by rocketing Chinese markets. The rally surprised by its amplitude and unfolded amid a structural Chinese deleveraging with multiple signs of a gradual economic slowdown. It was driven by monetary easing. PBOC has already cut rates and RRR twice while adding about RMB 1tn of liquidity through various channels, and it is expected to ease furthermore. The market liberalization was also a powerful driver to the rally, according with the Barometer.
The authorization to open multiple accounts at different broking firms, an easier access to foreign investors through the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect, and an easier access for mainland investors into the Hong Kong exchange all contributed to unleash massive buying flows. Domestic flows were particularly strong. Importantly, adjusted from their net exposure, our Asian managers generated excess return. Meanwhile US managers continued to extract decent alpha, helped by the Fed remaining on the dovish side and by a better earning season than initially anticipated. European managers also performed decently, especially the market neutral styles as the YTD momentum started to dry out.
Event driven funds took a pause in April after several months of strong returns, courtesy of rising risk appetite and recovering illiquid premiums. Merger arbitrage funds have decently navigated the rising volatility in deal spreads. In particular they limited the damages from the TWC-Comcast deal termination. They also took positions in several healthcare freshly announced deals. Volatility also rose for Special Situation funds. After a positive start of the month, they gave up some of the gains thereafter. Continued signs of a slowdown in the US and rich valuations contributed to stall the momentum in event positions, including activist holdings
The Lyxor L/S Credit Arbitrage index was flat over the month. Funds’ return dispersion was however elevated. Developments in Eurozone and Asia were the main movers. The Greek saga had been largely shrugged off so far by global markets. In April, a risk premium started to be priced in on stalling negotiations and nearing debt repayment deadlines. The turn in periphery spreads went against QE forces and caught some managers off guards. In Asia, credit markets weren’t as strong as equities, in cross currents between monetary easing and a structural deleveraging, in the Chinese housing sector in particular. Gains were recorded in the US market where credit benefitted from further signs of oil prices stabilization and postponed concerns about the Fed normalization pace.
Convertible funds underperformed their L/S Credit peers in April, just like year to date. Their equity and rates hedges proved costly. The mixed gamma trading environment brought little contribution. Issuance volumes also remained below par.
The environment for CTAs proved more challenging in the second part of the month, especially for the long term models, point out the Barometer. The turn in yields, FX and energy was the main performance detractor. In contrast, short term models rotated their allocation much faster. They ended the month only marginally negative. While the overall CTAs’ exposure was shaved off in response to a more unstable trend following backdrop, the net exposures were little changed. On average by month end, CTAs remained long USD (especially against EUR, but slightly long JPY), short commodities – both on energy and precious metals – long equity and bonds, in the US and Eurozone in particular. We note that by mid-month CTAs have started to build substantial futures positions on Asian equities.
The Lyxor Global Macro Index was flat over the month. Funds displayed high resiliency to a number of cross asset reversals emerging in the second part of the month. The turn in periphery spreads, rallying US yields, and the USD weakness detracted performance. It was offset by the managers’ short European bond exposure, their positions in EM markets and in commodities to some extent. In aggregate, Lyxor Global Macro funds ended April with long USD positions – mainly against EUR and GBP – a long bias on base and precious metals, a neutral exposure to energy, a long US bond vs. a short European bond exposures. The bulk of their equity holdings were in Europe and Japan.
Photo: Rakib Hasan Sumon. Robeco Launches a New High Conviction Emerging Markets Equities Fund
Robeco announced the launch a new fund for EM equity that it will be managed by Jaap van der Hart, lead manager on the Robeco Emerging Stars Equities fund.
Robeco Emerging Opportunities Equities is the latest high conviction fund to be added to the fundamental Emerging Markets Equities capability of the firm.
The fund has been launched as a result of growing demand for products with a high active share. This is because many clients now combine low-cost index-tracking products with high-active share strategies to enhance performance.
Robeco Emerging Opportunities Equities invests worldwide in stocks of the most promising emerging and frontier economies. The fund aims to achieve higher returns by investing in the most promising countries irrespective of their weight in the reference index, while maintaining a well-diversified portfolio of 70 to 100 stocks. It will invest up to 25% of the portfolio in attractive opportunities within the smaller companies’ universe. The fund manager combines a top-down country allocation process with bottom-up stock selection, where stock selection is based on a unique blend of fundamental and quantitative proprietary research.
The fund will be managed within Robeco’s Emerging Markets Equity Team, and the fund manager will be Jaap van der Hart.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: William J. Stromberg. T. Rowe Price CEO and President James A.C. Kennedy to Retire in 2016
The Board of Directors of T. Rowe Price Group today announced that James A.C. Kennedy, CEO and president and chair of the firm’s Management Committee, has decided to step down from those roles, effective December 31, 2015. He will retire from the firm at the company’s Annual Meeting on April 27, 2016, following a highly successful 38-year career with the firm, the last nine as CEO and president.
William J. Stromberg, a 28-year veteran of the company who is currently head of Global Equity and Global Equity Research and a member of the firm’s Management Committee, will succeed Jim. Bill will become president and CEO and chair of the Management Committee, effective January 1, 2016. He will also join the Board of Directors at that time.
As part of the transition, Eric L. Veiel, a director of Equity Research–North America and a member of the U.S. Equity Steering Committee, will become head of U.S. Equity and chair of the U.S. Equity Steering Committee, effective January 1, 2016. He will also join the Management Committee at that time.
Brian C. Rogers, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer said: “The Board of Directors has tremendous confidence in Bill. His appointment as president and CEO will be the culmination of a thoughtful and planned transition of leadership at T. Rowe Price, and testament to Bill’s career success and proven leadership abilities. Bill has the respect of everyone in the organization.”
William J. Stromberg, Head of Global Equity and Global Equity Research, commented: “Jim’s career contributions to our clients, associates, and shareholders have been truly extraordinary. He has been a role model and mentor to me for many years and I will be honored to succeed him and serve as president and CEO. I am very proud of our talented associates and look forward to continuing to work with them to deliver excellent investment performance and client service while we expand our business globally.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrJuan Andrés Camus, Chairman, SSE, Aurora Williams Baussa, Chile's Minister of Mining, José Antonio Martínez, General Manager, SSE, and John McCoach, President, TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). Santiago Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange Celebrate the Launch of a New Venture Market in Chile
Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE) today announced the launch of Santiago Stock Exchange Venture (SSEV), a new public venture capital market for small and early-stage companies in one of Latin America’s largest economies. The announcement was made at a launch event featuring Juan Andrés Camus, Chairman at SSE, Aurora Williams Baussa, Chile’s Minister of Mining, José Antonio Martínez, General Manager at SSE, and John McCoach, President, TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).
TSXV and SSE entered into an agreement in March 2014 to create a streamlined dual listing process providing companies with access to public venture capital markets in both Chile and Canada. Under this agreement, companies listed on TSXV may choose to list on the new market. SSEV is initially focused on capital formation for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the mining sector. The new venture market may expand to other industry sectors at a later stage.
“One of the biggest challenges of Santiago Stock Exchange has been to deepen its position as a solid, diversified, competitive and transparent market that attracts national and foreign investors,” said Mr. Camus. “The launch of the Santiago Stock Exchange’s new Venture Market is part of this strategy. We hope that it will become a viable option for financing early-stage companies and contribute to the growth of the Chilean capital market.”
“TSX Venture Exchange is a leading global marketplace for financing and trading SMEs,” said Mr. McCoach. “The launch of Santiago Stock Exchange, Venture will help entrepreneurs and emerging companies in Chile to grow their businesses, while also providing new opportunities for TSXV-listed companies who choose to access capital in Latin American markets.”
A dual listing on SSEV will allow TSXV-listed companies to not only connect to investors in Chile, but also the investment communities in Colombia, Mexico and Peru through the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA), a program that integrates the capital markets of these countries.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Stéfan. Matthews Asia lanza un fondo japonés
Matthews Asia has announced the expansion of its Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS fund range with the launch of the Matthews Japan fund.
It seeks to generate long-term capital appreciation by investing in the Japanese equity markets.
The fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in an all-cap portfolio of Japanese companies, many of which are positioned to benefit from growth opportunities in Asia or the improvement in the corporate governance and domestic growth outlook inside Japan.
The Matthews Japan strategy has been available to investors in the US since 1998.
The UCITS fund will follow the same bottom-up, fundamental investment approach and is managed by the same Lead Portfolio Manager, Kenichi Amaki, who is supported by Co-Manager Taizo Ishida and the broader Matthews Asia 40-member investment team.
Kenichi Amaki, lead manager commented: “Japan has been seen by many investors as a ‘large-cap value’ market over the past 15 years, but we view Japan as a long-term, core investment opportunity and, as such, we invest across the market-cap spectrum.
“The portfolio includes lesser-known small-cap companies with strong and sustainable growing domestic businesses relative to many large-cap peers. We also look at Japan in a regional context, paying particular attention to firms that are poised to benefit from the rising income levels in the region and that are tied into the growth of the Asian household.“
Jonathan Schuman, head of Global Business Development adds: “We believe that this is an opportune time for global investors to re-engage with Japan as a strategic portion of their portfolios. Japanese companies are increasingly benefitting from rising levels of income growth and improving productivity levels across Asia.
“The integration of Japan with Asia’s broader economy is a key reason why we are excited about investment opportunities in the Japanese equity market. The addition of the Matthews Japan Fund to our Luxembourg funds platform reflects Matthews Asia’s strategic commitment to delivering our specialist capabilities to retail and institutional investors globally.”
Photo: DSasso. Investment Outlook for 5 Latam countries, by Global Evolution
In april 2015, Global Evolution attended the World Bank—IMF spring meetings with three objectives:
Country coverage: Conduct face-to-face meetings with IMF/World Bank Mission Chiefs as well as Government officials from emerging and frontier countries
Research collaboration: Discuss joint research with IMF Research Department; planning World Bank-Global Evolution ESG Research Seminar ahead of Annual Meetings 2015
IMF-World Bank relations: To maintain and extend our network with IMF and World Bank mission chiefs.
The firm draws these headline conclusions for five Latam countries:
Argentina: The prospects depend crucially on two themes: A solution with the holdouts on the bonds that (temporarily) are in technical default; and the economic policy management after the elections in the end of 2015. A solution before the elections is highly unlikely—as Kirchner states: “patri o muitres”. Either winner of the elections will likely seek a solution with the houldouts. Macri seems more “market-friendly” than Scioli.
Venezuela: Our view, backed by the dialogue in Washington, is that a default is not imminent since liquid assets to sell are around $70bn. Furthermore, Venezuela may give Jamaica a debt buyback deal similar to the one for Dominican Republic with early repayment—and they made March payments to debt holders indicating their willingness to service debt this year.
Panama: The Panama Canal Authority is extremely well managed. They have their own constitution and governance structure like a separate state. The economy is furthermore thriving with growth likely to reach 7% over the medium term.
Honduras: We are very positive on Honduras. IMF program progress is very convincing with quantitative targets being met with a wide margin. As an example, the fiscal deficit was 7.6% in 2014 with a target of 5.6% but the deficit ended up at 4.3%. The review in May will be very convincing. Honduras remains a positive credit story that seems to have slipped the attention of most other investors.
Nicaragua: The Chinese government is unlikely to support the private sector investor who has intended to finance the canal. Unoffical estimates reveal a 50:50 chance that the investor will pull the plug and drop the investment. This will reduce expectation to growth, employment, and FDI going forward— while boosting the relative expectations for the same in Panama.
Global Evolution, an asset management firm specialized in emerging and frontier markets debt, is represented by Capital Stragtegies in the Americas Region.
The Board of Directors of BBVA named Carlos Torres Vila president & COO at a meeting held today in Madrid, replacing Ángel Cano. The Board also approved a new organizational structure that puts digital transformation at the center of the strategy to accelerate its execution, while creating a function with the sole mission of managing the country’s networks and operations to enhance results.
“Ángel has been a great president & COO during very complex years and now we start a new phase to advance toward our goal of becoming the best universal bank in the digital age,” said Francisco González, chairman & CEO of BBVA.
Amid the disruption underway in banking, with new consumer demands, digital entrants and new business models, BBVA has defined a structure to carry out digital transformation as the Group’s top priority. After the outstanding performance achieved by the team led by Ángel Cano through the most severe financial crisis in recent history, BBVA is now making the needed changes to start the new phase.
“It has been a challenging and intense period and today BBVA is in a position of strength,” Ángel Cano said. “Carlos the ideal person to keep advancing the transformation process.”
Carlos Torres Vila joined BBVA in 2008 as head of Strategy & Corporate Development, and later was named head of the global Digital Banking area. Previously, he was director of corporate strategy and CFO of Endesa. Prior to Endesa, he was partner at McKinsey & Company. Carlos Torres Vila graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a BS. in Electrical Engineering and a BS. in Management Science, and also holds a Law degree from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. He earned an MBA from MIT.
With his appointment as president & COO, he will be able to accelerate the digital transformation process globally and in every geography, strengthening the efforts initiated at the Digital Banking area.
“Transformation is our responsibility, a responsibility for everybody who is part of BBVA, because it will allow us to lead the banking industry and to continue the success story of this great Group,” Carlos Torres Vila said.
The new structure will strengthen the results of the franchises through a function with the sole mission of managing the country’s networks and operations. To meet that goal the new model includes the following areas:
Country Networks: Vicente Rodero will lead this newly created area that will be fully dedicated to managing the networks and operations of all of the countries in order to boost the results of the franchises of the Group. The country managers will now report to the head of the area. Vicente Rodero will also stay on as head of BBVA Bancomer.
C&IB: Juan Asúa continues as head of the wholesale banking area at BBVA.
On the other hand, the new structure adds critical competencies and global talent to compete in the new landscape, with the following goals:
To globally boost the development of digital products and services, taking full advantage of design, technology and information to best meet client needs, retail and corporate alike.
To transform the business model of each geography to offer the best solutions to our customers, deploying and adapting the global solutions to each market.
To accelerate cultural change at the Group toward a more flexible and agile organization and to obtain and develop intellectual capital in key disciplines for digital transformation such as digital marketing, design of customer experience, software development and big data.
To fulfill the goals, the structure has the following areas:
Talent & Culture: Donna DeAngelis, with extensive experience in transforming large global organizations such as Publicis Groupe as well as executive management roles in digital companies such as Digitas, will lead the area, responsible for managing talent and driving cultural change.
Customer Solutions: Mark Jamison will lead the creation and promotion of global products and solutions, including Global Payments. The area includes customer experience, design, quality and big data. Before joining BBVA, Mark Jamison was chief digital officer of Capital One Bank, and prior to that he held key positions at companies such as Charles Schwab and Fidelity.
Marketing & Digital Sales: Javier Escobedo will lead e-commerce, marketing and brand management. Prior to BBVA, Javier Escobedo worked for Expedia, responsible for Hotels.com in Latin America. During his career he has held relevant roles in the development of renowned brands, such as Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and Univision.
Engineering: Ricardo Moreno, currently country manager of BBVA in Argentina and with ample experience in the area of Technology and Operations, and of Transformation at BBVA, will be the head of software development and of the management of technology and operations. Martín Zarich, currently head of Business Development in Argentina, will replace Ricardo Moreno as country manager.
The Business Development (BD): the function will be responsible in each country for retail and commercial offerings and for the deployment of global developments. BD Spain, with David Puente, and BD U.S., led by Jeff Dennes, will now report to the president & COO. The rest of the countries (Turkey, Mexico and countries in South America) will be included in BD Growth Markets, led by Ricardo Forcano, who will also report to Carlos Torres Vila. Ricardo Forcano is currently head of strategy and finance at Digital Banking.
New Digital Businesses: Teppo Paavola, reporting to the president & COO, continues as head of the area responsible for investing and launching new digital businesses, including BBVA Ventures, as well as promoting the collaboration with the ecosystem of startups and developers. Before joining BBVA, Teppo Paavola was head of development of global businesses and M&A at PayPal.
Regarding other areas, relevant changes include:
Global Risk Management: Rafael Salinas, head of risk management at C&IB with global responsibilities for large corporates’ credit portfolio and markets and counterparty risks, and with more than 10 years in risk management, takes over as head of Global Risk Management.
Strategy & M&A: Javier Rodríguez Soler, reporting directly to the chairman & CEO, will be responsible for defining the digital transformation strategy, as well as carrying out the M&A operations and alliances of the Group.
The area of global retail lines of business (LOBS) & South America is reorganized. The region’s country managers, as the rest of country managers, will report directly to Vicente Rodero. Asset Management is included in Country Networks. Consumer Finance moves to Strategy & M&A to focus on the execution of alliances and joint ventures to help the franchises boost results.
Communications: Paul G. Tobin will head Communications.
Regarding the rest of areas of support and control there are no changes, and Jaime Sáenz de Tejada continues as the Group’s chief financial officer.
“Based on the three pillars of the Group –principles, people and innovation- and with this new phase that starts today, BBVA takes a significant step forward in its ambition to become the best universal bank of the digital age,” Francisco González said.
Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager, has announced the appointment of Jon Stewart as Real Estate Equities Analyst (Europe), to be based in Edinburgh.
He joins the growing global real estate equities team reporting to Svitlana Gubriy, with analysts based in Edinburgh, Boston and Hong Kong.
Jon was previously at Liberum Capital as a European Real Estate Equities Analyst and has eight years’ investment experience. He will be responsible for identifying new listed real estate investments in the UK and continental Europe.
Andrew Jackson, Head of Wholesale and Listed Real Estate, Standard Life Investments said: “We are delighted that Jon is joining our growing real estate team. Jon brings a breadth of experience to the team from his background on the sell-side covering UK and continental European real estate companies. His expertise will further enhance our capability in this area as we continue to focus on offering our clients innovative and unrivalled real estate solutions.”