Invesco Perpetual wins the Overall Fund Group, plus two individual fund awards, at the 2015 Lipper Fund Awards. The Lipper Fund Awards honour funds and fund management firms that have excelled in consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.
“As advocates of active fund management, we’re delighted to have won Lipper’s Overall Fund Group Award in 2015 which recognises the strength and depth of our product offering”, said the firm in a press release.
“At Invesco Perpetual, we’ve built a renowned investment culture in Henley-on-Thames which supports our talented and experienced fund managers. Alongside our long-established equity and fixed interest capabilities, we’ve expanded our product range to include a multi-asset offering, which further supports our focus on long-term solutions for clients”, said.
In addition to the Overall Fund Group Award, the Invesco Perpetual High Yield and Global Equity Income Funds were also award winners.
Lewis Aubrey-Johnson, Head of Fixed Income Products commented: “We’re delighted to have received this award from Lipper in recognition of the fund’s risk-adjusted performance. This is the third award for the Invesco Perpetual High Yield Fund in the last 12 months, and with the addition of Asad Bhatti as Deputy Fund Manager, we aim to maintain our strong investment track record in future years.”
On the award for the Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund, Chief Investment Officer Nick Mustoe said: “Where some equity income funds look to maximise income in the short term by focusing on the highest yielding parts of the market, this fund focuses on sustainable income. We refer to this approach as ‘quality income’ and as such, are pleased to learn that Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund is a top performer in the IMA Global Equity Income sector over five years in the UK. Over the long term, we employ a ‘quality income’ approach that seeks to deliver a diversified portfolio of stocks that provide an attractive mix of income, dividend growth and capital appreciation.”
Photo: Antonio Tajuelo. Higher Returns Thanks to ‘Sin Stocks’
If you’d invested a dollar in American tobacco shares 115 years ago, you’d be USD 6.3 million better off now. If you’d have invested the same dollar in the wider American market on that same day, you’d have to make do with USD 38,255 today.
This 5% outperformance by the tobacco industry over such a long period is impressive – and it’s not hidden behind a smokescreen either. Mark Glazener, fund manager of Robeco NV, summarizes the success in four words: “A good business case. How many products are there that elicit such a sudden moment of panic in users: ‘Have I got any at home, or on me?’ Not many.”
Twenty percent of the Western population smokes – a market share that is shrinking only very slightly – and the demographic development in emerging markets is providing tailwind. The degree of penetration is reasonably stable, but the population is growing and therefore the number of users continues to rise.
And then you have the pricing power, which according to Glazener is of unprecedented importance. “Rounded off, the tax on a packet of cigarettes is four euros and is raised occasionally by the government. And tobacco manufacturers have the opportunity to increase their margins each time the excise duties are raised. Basically, volumes are falling slightly worldwide – but this is more than made up for by the margins. In addition, the production costs rarely increase and tobacco manufacturers are not allowed to advertise – saving them millions each year. Unilever invests 11% of its budget in advertising.”
Exclusion from portfolios
Another advantage is that there has been no major consolidation in the tobacco industry. Barring a few specific American players, there are but three big global names: British and American Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco. The competition from e-cigarettes doesn’t pose much of a threat either. “The nicotine hit from e-cigarettes is much less intense. You don’t get the same level of satisfaction from taking a drag.”
Glazener believes that the momentum in the tobacco industry can be maintained at least until 2020, thanks to the increasing prices that are compensating for the slight decline in volumes. But the prices of cigarettes cannot continue to rise without challenge, in particular because the majority of users are from low income groups. “During the crisis, the turnover in Italy and Spain plummeted because smokers switched to imitation brands, bought via the illegal circuit.”
Tobacco shares are examples of ‘sin stocks’ – shares in controversial sectors and activities, like the weapons industry and alcohol and gambling companies. As a result, these shares are avoided by a growing group of investors that is guided by principles concerning ESG (Environment, Social, Governance). But not by Glazener, who applies the best in class principle for his fund. “Excluding certain sectors limits your possibilities and opportunities as a fund manager and we only do that when it is required by law, like with cluster bomb makers. At the end of the day, you are judged by your returns in the financial sector.”
Immune for headwind
Shares that are excluded by groups of investors tend to be traded at a discount. Due to the taint on the sector or industry, as a rule they are valued lower than the market average. This doesn’t apply to tobacco shares – these certainly aren’t cheap.
The merits of investing in shares in tobacco firms outweigh the disadvantages of the tobacco industry. “As long as these shares continue to perform above average, investors will continue to buy them.” Shares in tobacco will keep doing surprisingly well for now, even against the sentiment of the modern world. “The industry has survived billions in claims, the ban on smoking in public places, shocking messages on cigarette packs and even a ban in Australia on printing brand names on packets. But these shares have proven exceptionally immune to every type of headwind.”
The 5% extra return is obviously just too tempting to resist. Even the pension fund for GPs was investing in tobacco shares until a year ago. It has excluded this industry now, as has PGGM’s Zorg & Welzijn (Health & Welfare) pension fund. A complete end to investing in tobacco shares is not in sight either.
But that time may come, thinks Glazener. “If further government restrictions cause the sector to lose its appeal, for instance.” Until then, investors remain caught in the devil’s dilemma of return versus ESG considerations. Glazener too, despite the fact that the management team of Robeco NV is looking into whether tobacco shares can be replaced in the portfolio – preferably by an alternative with the same risk-return profile.
Despite the leading banks’ zero interest rate policy and weak oil prices, the global economy is in danger of a slowdown, according to Guy Wagner, Chief Investment Officer at Banque de Luxembourg and Managing Director of BLI – Banque de Luxembourg Investments, and his team, in the monthly market analysis, ‘Highlights’.
In the United States, the GDP increase in the 4th quarter of 2014 was driven by domestic consumption, while investments and exports showed signs of weakness. “Outside the United States, economic activity is fragile in most regions,” says Guy Wagner. “In Europe and Japan, the recent slight improvement in the main economic indicators does not point to a significant upturn, given the weakness of the comparison bases.” In China, the slowdown in economic growth looks set to continue and could prompt the public authorities to embark on support measures in the coming weeks.
Government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance
The ECB’s pronouncement of a massive programme of quantitative easing has prompted a further fall in long rates, even though they were already extremely low. In the Eurozone, yields on 10-year government bonds fell in Germany, Italy and Spain. Bond yields have also dropped in the United States. “Despite the miserable level of long rates, government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance,” says the Luxembourg economist. “The only scenario in which government bonds can continue to pull off good surprises would be if negative interest rates were introduced on a grand scale by the central banks – something that cannot be excluded given the prospects of economic slowdown.”
Investors consider equities as the default investment
In January, stock market developments were largely determined by fluctuating currency values. The euro’s weakness helped the Stoxx 600 Index to grow in Europe, while Japan’s Topix and the MSCI Emerging Markets (in JPY and USD respectively) stagnated and the S&P 500 (in USD) fell. Guy Wagner: “Given the euro’s decline against the dollar and the yen, stock market investments produced particularly decent results for a European investor in January. In a zero interest rate environment, investors continue to view equities as the default investment despite the steady advance of deflationary pressures – well illustrated by the escalating devaluation race.”
The dollar’s upward march is likely to continue
In January, the euro fell sharply against the US dollar as a result of the ECB’s announcement of a massive programme of quantitative easing. “Although the dollar’s impressive rise in January would suggest a temporary period of stabilisation is due, the currency’s upward march is likely to continue until and unless a rise in US interest rates is called into question.”
BNY Mellon Investment Managementannounced that it has partnered with Amherst Holdings, LLC, a leading financial services provider to institutional investors in the mortgage and structured finance sectors, to launch Amherst Capital ManagementLLC (ACaM), a real estate credit investment management platform that will offer a wide range of both traditional and alternative strategies. BNY Mellon and Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company (Texas Trust) have made significant capital commitments to the platform.
ACaMis being launched as a majority-owned subsidiary of Standish, BNY Mellon’s fixed income focused investment boutique, and will be co-owned by Amherst Holdings. ACaM will utilize Amherst’s proprietary data, analytics and market insight, giving the platform a unique perspective on the fundamental elements driving asset performance. As a result, Standish will be able to leverage ACaM’s significant real estate and mortgage expertise and proprietary analytics to support its multi-sector investment strategies. ACaM will initially be focused on direct lending opportunities, with plans to launch additional strategies in the future.
Sean Dobson, a seasoned veteran of the real estate finance markets will serve as CEO of ACaM. Upon completion of the transaction, Amherst Holdings will continue to operate subsidiaries specializing in mortgage and residential real estate assets.
The addition of ACaM is a natural complement to BNY Mellon Investment Management’s broader array of global real estate investment solutions currently offered by its CenterSquare, Insight, Siguler Guff[i] and Alcentra investment boutiques.
Melia Gorriones (Fuerteventura) Foto: Michael . Starwood Capital Group y Meliá se unen para adquirir resorts en España
Starwood Capital Group and leading Spanish hotel operator Melia Hotels International announced that they have established a joint venture that has agreed to acquire a collection of hotels across key resort locations in Spain.
The initial portfolio for the joint venture consists of seven well-established beachfront hotels representing 2,933 keys that are currently owned by Melia Hotels International and will continue to be managed by Melia upon completion of the transaction. The properties will be acquired by the joint venture in a transaction valued at €176 million ($198 million), subject to the approval of the European Union Merger Control Office.
Included in the initial portfolio are the Sol Principe in Malaga, the Sol Lanzarote and Melia Gorriones (Fuerteventura) in the Canary Islands, the Sol Ibiza and Sol Pinet Playa in Ibiza, and the Sol Mirlos and Sol Tordos (Palmanova, Mallorca). The hotels will all be fully refurbished.
A controlled affiliate of Starwood Capital will own 80% of the joint venture company, while Melia Hotels International will own the remaining 20%. The joint venture plans to seek out opportunities to integrate additional properties into the portfolio.
The joint venture represents Starwood Capital Group’s second transaction in Spain over the last several months. In late October, the Firm completed the acquisition, through a controlled affiliate, of a portfolio of loans from BFA-Bankia Group that included a significant number of real estate properties as underlying collateral. Starwood Capital Group has acquired more than $63 billion of real estate assets globally since its inception in 1991, including approximately 2,300 hotels and resorts.
. Jaco Rouw, Senior Portfolio Manager at ING Investment Management Joins Miami Summit
Jaco Rouw, senior portfolio manager at ING Investment Management, is set to present on the topic of ‘Global Bond Opportunities: Flexible Approach to Fixed Income”, when he takes part in the Fund Selector Summit Miami 2015, being held 7-8 May at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne.
The event – a joint venture between Open Door Media, the owner of InvestmentEurope and Miami based Funds Society – is targeting locally based fund selectors with the opportunity to hear input from a range of managers.
In times of uncertainty, it’s best to be positioned for various outcomes. For financial instruments, that means diversification. In past decades, the decline in yield levels has been generally beneficial. The latest push has been asset price inflation, driven by the Fed, the ECB and the BoJ. With central banks keeping rates continuously low, investors have responded by shifting their holdings to higher yielding asset classes such as Credits or EMD. But this poses enormous challenges, especially in managing the risk posed by interest rates, currencies duration, security selection and tactical asset allocation. The answer to these challenges has been the use of flexible global fixed income strategies, which employ tools and techniques to benefit from a wider spectrum of investment opportunities.
Jaco Rouw is based in The Netherlands and has been a senior portfolio manager with ING Investment Management since 2013. Jaco has worked at ING IM since 1998 and is currently responsible for global core fixed income investment policy and model portfolio construction. He is also responsible for managing client mandates and flagship fixed income mutual funds. Jaco has had a varied career at ING IM and since 2008 he has also been responsible for currency overlay and the management of dedicated currency portfolios, and from 2001-2008 he was a portfolio manager within the Global Fixed Income team at ING IM.
You will find all information about the Funds Society Fund Selector Summit Miami 2015 through this link.
Photo: Fred Hsu . Agnelli Family Seeks Buyers for Cushman & Wakefield
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Italian family Agnelli has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the third largest real estate company in the world, Cushman & Wakefield Inc, under their control, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The sale could fetch as much as $2 billion, for the company that recorded $163 million in earnings in the 12 months that ended in September, according to the newspaper, and acquired New York-based Massey Knakal Realty Services for $100 million late last year.
The Agnelli family, which currently owns 81 percent of the company, paid $565.4 million for a 67.5 percent stake in Cushman & Wakefield 8 years ago, according to the WSJ. “There is currently no transaction to disclose, nor guarantee that such a review may result in any transaction involving Cushman & Wakefield,” a Cushman & Wakefield spokesman said.
. Pension Insurance Corporation Appoints Henderson Global Investors as Part of Preparations for Solvency II
Pension Insurance Corporation, a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has appointed Henderson Global Investors as its sole external Sterling corporate bond manager, as part of preparations for the implementation of a “buy-to-hold” asset strategy under Solvency II. Henderson will now manage a £3.2 billion portfolio, more than doubling its previous mandate.
PIC manages a further £2 billion of Sterling corporate bonds in-house including direct investments in infrastructure. PIC has a total portfolio of almost £14 billion.
Tracy Blackwell, deputy CEO of Pension Insurance Corporation, said: “Consolidating our Sterling bond portfolio managers is an important step in our preparations for the “buy-to-hold” discipline required by Solvency II. The appointment of Henderson demonstrates that our transition is on track. We are of course delighted to be continuing our partnership with Henderson. Excellent credit skills, a strong working relationship and high levels of client service were key to this appointment.”
Anil Shenoy, director of institutional business at Henderson, says: “We are very proud to be appointed by PIC as this is an eminent endorsement of Henderson’s fixed income franchise and institutional client service. We look forward to deepening our relationship with one of the insurance industry’s leading and most innovative companies.”
Stephen Thariyan, global head of credit at Henderson, adds: “Being chosen as PIC’s manager of choice for Sterling corporate bonds reflects our robust portfolio management process and the strength and depth of our offering. PIC has been a leader in its sector for a number of years and this decision is a big boost for our team, which we have been building out globally.”
According to new research released from Pershing Advisor Solutions entitled Super-Ensembles: The Firms Who Are Shaping the Future of the Industry, a group of 250 super-ensemble firms are poised to shape the future of the advisory industry and are setting the standard for growth, client service and practice management best practices as evidenced by their impressive revenue and growth.
Super-ensembles are advisory firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) and are characterized by a defined brand, sophisticated value proposition and strong management. Such firms are also achieving local market dominance through investment in technology, aggressive growth strategies and a long-term vision for their businesses.
“Every business owner can learn from the strategy that super-ensembles are successfully bringing to the marketplace, and we are seeing their business practices quickly becoming the standard to follow for the rest of the industry,” said Gabriel Garcia, head of relationship management for Pershing Advisor Solutions. “Success isn’t merely defined by the size of a firm. We believe that firms of all sizes can learn from the different growth strategies and best practices being implemented by super-ensembles to more effectively manage and grow their own businesses.”
The success of the super-ensemble model, and its ability to outperform the industry in terms of revenue and growth, is evident in the numbers. In 2014 the typical super-ensemble had $1,450,000 in owner income on average compared to $430,000 for ensembles (firms with AUM under $500 million) and $305,000 for solo firms (one-advisor practices). Super-ensembles were also the fastest growing firms with 18.6 percent revenue growth, compared to ensembles whose revenue grew at 17.1 percent and solo firms at 15.4 percent.
According to the study, super-ensembles scale primarily through strategic and organic means. However, they are also interested in growing through acquisitions and mergers. In fact, over one-third of super-ensembles (37 percent) are actively searching for acquisitions and 6.3 percent are interested in a merger with a similarly-sized firm. Other means of creating a super-ensemble are strategic partnerships and aggressive marketing.
In contrast to their smaller peers, young super-ensembles are deliberate in their growth and more likely to pursue business development, which allows them to drive acquisition of new clients faster than other firms. Eighty percent have a defined target for non-owner lead advisors and 17 percent have business development partners.
For firms looking to become super-ensembles, the study outlines a number of steps they can take to achieve this goal:
Act like a super-ensemble, regardless of size: Dedicating time and resources to management, even if full-time management is not affordable, will keep any firm disciplined. Carefully articulating a strategy and being diligent in execution will help the firm progress and grow in a systematic manner.
Attract talent: The addition of professionals and managers who have experience working in larger organizations can assist smaller firms in finding a way to grow faster and impart knowledge from their larger peers.
Merge: There is no faster way to achieve size and reach the level of resources of a billion-dollar firm than a merger. Mergers are difficult, laborious and risky initiatives, but they have created many of today’s largest firms.
Acquire: Acquisitions are not the exclusive domain of the largest firms and, in fact, many of the mid-size firms can find good opportunities to acquire solo practices and add clients and markets to their business.
Focus on culture: Culture is slow to evolve and change, and creating the “right” culture—even when the firm is smaller—will allow a firm to succeed at later stages in its evolution. A dedicated focus on developing the right culture can secure the success of the firm as it grows and can help shape the direction of any mergers and acquisitions.
Prioritize growth: Growing faster starts with making growth a priority of the firm. The single most important marketing resource of a firm is the time of its most experienced professionals. Firms where partners prioritize growth tend to spend their time focused on this area, which is more likely to result in a faster expansion.
To obtain a copy of Pershing’s whitepaper Super-Ensembles: The Firms Who Are Shaping the Future of the Industry, please visit this link.
Photo: Ramón Llorensi. BNP Paribas Securities Services Appoints Head of Brazil
BNP Paribas Securities Services has announced the appointment of Andrea Cattaneo as head of Brazil.
Cattaneo joined BNP Paribas Securities Services in 2004, becoming global head of solutions for asset managers in 2011.
“We have expanded our custody offering in Brazil and across Latin America in recent years with great success,” commented Alvaro Camuñas, head of Spain and Latin America, BNP Paribas Securities Services.
“We are seeing strong demand both to help foreign investors develop their business in Brazil and to help local investors reach out to international markets by using our worldwide networks and expertise.”
“Andrea has played an important role in the development of our global offering for asset managers and I am delighted to see him take the lead of our Brazil office. His new appointment positions us well for future growth in the country.”
“This is a fascinating time for Brazilian finance,” commented Cattaneo. “The need to diversify investments to boost returns means Brazilian investors are reaching out to global markets, which are eager to connect with them.
“This is the moment for us to bring our global reach and local expertise to bear and help connect Brazilian investors to markets worldwide. It is an exciting time for us and I am delighted to have been appointed to this role.”
