KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb), headquartered in Luxembourg, announced the successful closing of the acquisition of the operations of UBS Belgium, which have been integrated into Puilaetco Dewaay Private Bankers, KBL epb’s Brussels-headquartered affiliate.
The acquisition, which has received the approval of the European Central Bank, adds substantial scale to Puilaetco Dewaay, strengthening its domestic franchise and positioning it as a top three pure-play private bank in Belgium.
Following closing, Puilaetco Dewaay – which was founded in 1868 and operates in eight cities in Belgium – now counts over 250 staff, who manages more than €10 billion in assets on behalf of some 10,000 clients.
Those clients now benefit from expanded advisory services, as well as access to the products, services and expertise of KBL epb, whose long-term development strategy targets organic, semi-organic and external growth.
“Today, as we close this important transaction, we are opening new doors of opportunity for the clients and staff of Puilaetco Dewaay,” said Yves Stein, Group CEO, KBL epb. “As we strive to be recognized as a trusted partner and leading private bank everywhere we operate, KBL epb continues to actively review additional acquisition opportunities in our core markets, and will seize them when conditions are right.”
“We are extremely pleased to have efficiently closed this transaction, thanks to the tremendous efforts of so many of our people, who demonstrated their full commitment to a seamless client experience,” said Thierry Smets, CEO, Puilaetco Dewaay Private Bankers. “At a time when the European private banking sector is in the midst of ongoing consolidation, we now benefit from greater size, scale and reach,” he said. “As a consequence, Puilaetco Dewaay is more strongly positioned for sustained future growth than at any time in our 150-year history.”
Mr. Smets highlighted that former UBS Belgium staff have been integrated into
Puilaetco Dewaay across every level of the organization – including the Executive Committee. That senior decision-making body has been expanded to include Ludivine Pilate, who joins as Chief Operating Officer, and Gregory Christians, who has assumed the role of Chief Investment Officer.
Ms. Pilate and Mr. Christians join existing members Mr. Smets, Sabine Caudron and Amaury de Laet to form the new Executive Committee of Puilaetco Dewaay.
Tennis champion Andy Murray announced yesterday that he has entered a long-term partnership arrangement with Seedrs, the London-based equity crowdfunding platform.
The arrangement will see Andy joining the Seedrs Advisory Board to provide advice to the firm with respect to businesses working in the health, sport and wearable technology spaces. Andy will not be offering advice to individual investors or recommending specific campaigns.
He will also be investing regularly in startups and other early-stage businesses through Seedrs and helping Seedrs to grow its brand in the UK and internationally.
Equity crowdfunding is revolutionising the way startups and other early-stage businesses are being funded. It involves the raising of funds by obtaining many small investments from a large number of people through online platforms.
This form of business fundraising is proving increasingly popular, and it allows businesses not only to obtain the capital they need but also to build a community of supportive investors who can help them grow.
The equity crowdfunding market is growing quickly. Since its launch in July 2012, Seedrs has reported 15% month-on-month growth, and within the next few years it expects to be funding hundred of millions of pounds into thousands of businesses each year.
This partnership represents the first time a major public figure has teamed up with an equity crowdfunding platform in this way, and it heralds a significant milestone in the development of the equity crowdfunding industry.
Andy Murray shared his perspective: “I’ve always been interested in investment, and being able to get involved in an innovative way to help support British startups really appealed to me. Equally as important was working with people I trusted and who fully understood the huge responsibility of handling people’s money. I’m looking forward to working with Seedrs and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
Matt Gentry, who runs Andy’s management company, 77, added: “Andy is a keen investor, with his own management agency alongside a property portfolio, which includes a hotel. Crowdfunding is a space we’ve been looking at for a while, to complement his business interests, and he’s excited about being able to help startup businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK. Andy’s been lucky enough to have support from sponsors throughout his career, not only helping to aid him and his team financially, but also adding valuable mentoring in many cases. For him the opportunity to give something back to help to up and coming business men and women was very appealing.”
Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, celebrated the announcement as follows: “Andy Murray is the perfect partner for Seedrs as we drive our growth to the next level. In many ways, he represents the exact combination of qualities that entrepreneurs need to be successful: determination, focus, integrity and skill. We are particularly looking forward to working with him as a member of our Advisory Board: we believe he can bring a different perspective into certain aspects of the early-stage business community in the health, sport and wearable technology spaces, and we look forward to his input and support.”
Lord Young of Graffham, the Prime Minister’s former Enterprise Adviser and a long-time champion of equity crowdfunding, said this about the announcement: “Both modern tennis and equity crowdfunding have their origins in Britain, and Andy Murray and Seedrs are world-leaders in their respective fields. It is wonderful to see the two coming together in this unique partnership, and I believe the outcome of it will be to see more great British businesses raising the capital they need, and more investors having the chance to be part of those businesses.”
Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), has hired Rahul Khasgiwale as a senior investment specialist based in the Toronto office. Rahul will work closely with Aviva Investors’ strategic partners and clients in North America with a focus on our multi-strategy capabilities and outcome oriented solutions.
Rahul joins the team with 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining Aviva, Rahul was the Investment Director for Multi-Asset solutions at Manulife Asset Management. Prior to that, he was an Absolute Return Investment Director at Standard Life Investments focused on retail and institutional clients and consultants in Canada. Rahul began his investment career at HSBC Global Asset Management, where he held a variety of senior investment roles based in the UK, Switzerland, the Middle East and Canada across a twelve-year period.
Rahul is a CFA charter holder and also holds the CAIA designation. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Nottingham University where he also studied medicine and surgery. Rahul practiced as a medical doctor in the UK National Health Service before a successful career change to the investment industry in 2001.
Rob Ranges, Head of Americas Business Development, said, “We are delighted to have Rahul on our team. His extensive experience working with investors, his deep understanding of outcome oriented solutions and client needs, and his experience helping clients achieve outcomes via multi-asset solutions is aligned with Aviva Investors’ value proposition. He will further enable us to provide our North American clients and strategic partners with exceptional support.”
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainCarinaHofi. Momentum adecuado para invertir en Cocos
Since 2006, La Française has implemented a governance structure based on an Executive Board and a Supervisory Board. In order to meet the strictest governance requirements, La Française is opening its Supervisory Board to two independent specialists of the property and financial sector.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu and Philippe Marini now form part of the La Française Supervisory Board, joining forces with André Halipré, Vice Chairman of the Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe Federation, and Eric Charpentier, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe.
Philippe Marini is the Mayor of Compiègne, President of the Greater Compiègne urban community (ARC) and President of the Syndicat Mixte de la Vallée de l’Oise (SMVO, Joint Union of the Oise Valley). He has served on the Gimar et Cie Supervisory Board since 1999 and became Chairman of their Management Board on 8 January 2015.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu is the Chairman of INCIPIT, a Mergers & Acquisitions advisory and consulting firm which he founded in 2011. He is non-executive director of ACOFI SCA, Petercam S.A. and Tages LLP. He has been President of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) since July 2014.
Foto: Sagrario Gallego, Flickr, Creative Commons. La mitad de los españoles suscribiría un plan de pensiones si su empresa se lo ofreciese
Under the terms of the agreement, Aegon has acquired a 25% stake in La Banque Postale Asset Management for a consideration of EUR 112.5 million. LBPAM is the fifth largest asset manager in France, with approximately EUR 150 billion assets under management.
“I am delighted that Aegon is teaming up with La Banque Postale”, said Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon. “By leveraging Aegon’s global investment expertise and La Banque Postale’s extensive distribution network, this strategic asset management partnership opens up a large market opportunity. This will enable us to help many new customers in France secure their financial future through long-term investment solutions.”
The opportunity to create a strategic partnership with La Banque Postale supports Aegon’s ambition to grow and diversify its customer base and to provide fee-based, capital-light products. It also represents a significant step in implementing Aegon Asset Management’s strategy to expand its services and solutions for third-party customers internationally.
The two companies will work together to further strengthen the development of LBPAM, which will offer a comprehensive range of products – including international equity and multi-asset investment products. These will be distributed through La Banque Postale’s network of approximately 17,000 points of sale, online and by its institutional sales team.
For the last 10 years, Ivan Bouillot has been managing the European equities fund BL-Equities Europe. Let’s find out more about how fund manager Ivan Bouillot achieves this.
What are the specific characteristics of the BL-Equities Europe fund?
The strategy is concentrated on around 40 shares, which is small compared to other funds in the same category. They represent our strong investment convictions, both in terms of each share’s potential appreciation and the quality of the company.
Why the 40-share limit?
So we don’t spread ourselves too thinly and so we can follow each of our investments very closely. These 40 shares are selected from a universe that is itself limited and very stable over time, comprising around 150 shares altogether. This means we don’t have to constantly search through several thousand listed companies. From this sample of 150 stocks, we select those with the share prices we feel are attractive.
How do you select the companies?
Our selection is based on our criteria of quality and understanding the business. We satisfy ourselves that the product or service offered by the company is different to that offered by its competitors. We avoid companies that do not offer added value as they are likely to operate in more competitive markets, usually have lower profit margins, and make a loss at the slightest hint of economic slowdown. In situations like these, the management and board of directors of these types of companies tend to waste a lot of time resolving all sorts of problems. Our preferred companies are those that have some protection against the advent of new competitors: for example ones with a brand in the consumer sector, specific know-how in manufacturing or a therapeutic specialisation in pharmaceuticals. We call these barriers to entry. We also like companies with the capacity to increase their dividends year-on-year as part of a policy of profit distribution to shareholders. Good examples are SKF in industrials and Unilever in foods. In addition, our investment choices are made with a 3 to 5 year horizon in order to take some of the markets’ day-to-day ups and downs out of the equation.
What other selection criteria do you use?
The fund aims to focus more on capital growth than yield. So we do not include companies with inherently low business growth, such as telecoms operators and utilities. We also steer clear of sectors or companies that are difficult to understand. And generally, we tend to favour manufacturers or intermediaries which supply high-added-value solutions over companies that sell their products directly to the end consumer, as the former are more profitable and less capital intensive. In the automotive sector, for example, we prefer to buy shares in a high-performance brake manufacturer, like the Italian company Brembo, rather than in the car manufacturer itself.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrCourtesy photo. Union Bancaire Privée Strengthens Its Global Emerging Markets Equities Expertise With The Appointment of Mathieu Nègre
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) announced today it has appointed Mathieu Nègre as Head of Emerging Market Equities. With this appointment, UBP is further reinforcing its expertise in the emerging market space while also ensuring continued cooperation between its regionally-focused EM equities teams.
Having previously worked at UBP as an emerging European equities fund manager, Mathieu worked at Aviva Global Investors from 2011, and then at Royal Bank of Canada Global Asset Management, where he was a global emerging markets portfolio manager. Mathieu returns to manage UBP’s new Global EM Equities strategy and will remain based in London.
Eftychia (La) Fischer, UBP’s Investment Management CEO, said of the appointment: “We have significant regional resources and expertise, as well as a wide range of strategies in EM equities, with investment teams based in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Istanbul. Mathieu’s arrival will add significant expertise at global level, while also ensuring optimal cooperation between different regional teams for the ultimate benefit of investors.”
Mathieu Nègre added: “Emerging market equities have gone through a period of weakness but we believe they have great potential over the long term. An improving macro picture, low valuations, and greater appetite for reforms in China, India and a number of other emerging countries, are all combining to make this asset class an attractive investment opportunity. I am looking forward to re-joining UBP and working with the EM equities team during these exciting times for our asset class.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: David Blaikie. Lyxor Partners with Corsair for Alternative UCITS Fund
Lyxor has announced a partnership with Corsair Capital Management LP (Corsair) to launch the Lyxor/Corsair Capital Fund.
This fund, which is UCITS-compliant, runs a US long/short equity strategy. It is the first fund with daily liquidity Lyxor introduces within its alternative Ucits offering.
The Lyxor/Corsair Capital Fund aims to capture the performance of US equities with less risk, by preserving capital in down markets and using no leverage.
The product is mainly invested in US mid-cap companies going through strategic and/or structural change, as those companies have little analyst coverage and a complicated financial story.
This information gap between market consensus and Corsair’s proprietary research creates opportunities and generates alpha.
Corsair is managed by Jay Petschek and Steve Major, who lead an experienced team of twelve. Lyxor highlighted that the strategy deployed by the firm in 1991 has outperformed the US equity markets over multiple market cycles with less risk.
The fund is available on Lyxor’s alternative Ucits platform in EUR, USD, JPY, CHF, GBP, SEK, and NOK.
With Corsair, Lyxor welcomes its sixth alternative manager on its UCITS platform.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrBill Gross. Bill Gross Takes Over Old Mutual GI’s Total Return USD Bond Fund, Currently Sub-Advised by PIMCO
Old Mutual Global Investors has today announced that the investment adviser of its US$272 million Old Mutual Total Return USD Bond Fund will be changed to Janus Capital, with Bill Gross returning as fund manager.
The Old Mutual Total Return USD Bond Fund is a sub fund of the Dublin domiciled Old Mutual Global Investors Series plc and is currently sub-advised by PIMCO. Janus is set to take over as investment adviser on 6 July 2015.
Bill Gross managed the fund in PIMCO for over 12 years since its launch in April 2002. Old Mutual Global Investors believes that the change of fund manager is in the best interest of clients who originally chose to be invested with Bill.
The fund’s investment objective, to maximize total return consistent with preservation of capital and prudent investment management, will not change.
Warren Tonkinson, Global Head of Distribution at Old Mutual Global Investors comments:
“We have a long standing relationship with Bill Gross and believe that clients who chose to be invested with him in the Old Mutual Total Return USD Bond Fund will benefit from this change. Bill has a vast amount of experience and an outstanding track record and we look forward to working with him and the team at Janus.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to thank PIMCO for its support in managing the fund until now.”
Bill Gross comments: “Old Mutual is an ‘old friend’ that always had faith in me at PIMCO and now has expressed confidence in me at Janus. They will get our best efforts and sincere thanks for the opportunity,”
According to The Third Annual Study of Advisory Success: Confidence and Concern in the New Digital Age, released this week at Pershing’s INSITE™ 2015 conference, advisors are fairly evenly divided between viewing digital advisors, also known as robo-advisors, as competition or irrelevant to their business. Perhaps most surprising in the research was that only 19 percent of advisors think digital advice can complement their practice.
“There is no question that digital platforms are transforming the industry,” says Ben Harrison, head of business development and relationship management at Pershing Advisor Solutions. “Though most advisors are familiar with digital advice, a relatively small percentage of advisors are currently using this technology. The biggest opportunity we see for transformation is for advisors to automate low-value tasks, expand their reach and profitability.”
The survey also found that just over a quarter of advisors surveyed (27 percent) believe digital advice is irrelevant to their practice; while nearly another quarter (23 percent) feel that digital advice represents competition. By means of comparison, one-third (33 percent) of the advisors ages 18-34 consider digital advice to be competition, and only nine percent think they can complement their business. Comparatively, 27 percent of advisors between the ages of 35-54 view digital advice as competition, while only 16 percent of advisors over the age of 55 view them as competition
In general, price was cited by respondents as one of the most threatening factors of digital online financial providers. More than three quarters of advisors surveyed say the low cost of digital advice will pose some sort of threat to their practice. This data is underscored by the finding of a different study that found more than half of investors surveyed agreed that the investment advice most financial advisors offer is not worth the one percent fee.
“It is short-sighted to limit the ways technology can complement a business to only digital advice,” said Kim Dellarocca, managing director at Pershing. “Digital advice is important, but it is only one area where a firm needs to evolve their technology strategy to deliver a wealth management experience that mirrors the expectations of today’s consumers and workforce.”
The study suggests action steps for advisors to transform digital innovations into drivers of positive change and business growth, including:
Plan your approach to technology adoption. Advisors should understand where they sit on the digital spectrum and create a plan for where they want to be. Most begin by automating repetitive or low-value- tasks in their business. Once implemented, only then should they systematically work towards adopting increasingly sophisticated tools.
Make high-touch practices even more efficientand more personal. Digital tools, like those that automate client communications can help preserve the “high touch” experience many advisors are known for, but in a more efficient and more personal way that is customized to clients’ specific interests.
Improve your profitability and technology appeal. By automating key tasks that support the delivery of wealth management services, advisors can increase their margins and productivity. Advisors can use that gained time and resources to focus on higher valued activities like service delivery and more in-depth financial planning. Infusing technology into your business with greater self-service tools and more automation, not only adds to profitability, but creates a more modern feeling for client communications and interactions that today’s tech savvy investors crave.
Articulate your value. As investors and advisors both respond to digital advice trends, it is more important than ever for advisors to educate their clients about the work they do on their behalf– and the distinct value and wisdom the advisor offers in relationship to the fees they charge.
Be realistic about focus of the practice. If advisors have an appetite for tech-enabled growth, they should invest time and money in the latest capabilities. If not, their focus should shift towards financial planning or serving wealthy or hands-off investors.
