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United States UHNWI Map State by State

California is the state with the highest number of ultra wealthy individuals in the United States, according to the Wealth-X Special Report on America’s Ultra Wealthy Population. New York City maintained its status as the city with the largest ultra wealthy population in the United States – and in the world.

There are 13,445 ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals – defined as those with US$30 million and above in net assets – based in California. These individuals are mostly located in San Francisco (5,460) and Los Angeles (5,135). California’s UHNW population is larger than the UHNW population of the United Kingdom (11,510).

The state of New York ranks second in the United States with 9,530 UHNW individuals, 8,655 or 91% of whom are based in New York City.

Below are other highlights from the special report:

The United States is home to the world’s largest population of billionaires (571).
There are more UHNW individuals worth US$30 – US$49 million in the United States than there are UHNW individuals of all wealth tiers combined in any other single country.
There are more UHNW individuals in Texas, the United States’ third largest state, than in all of Canada.
California and New York added 865 and 585 UHNW individuals respectively to their populations in 2014, the largest increase in UHNW population size among US states.
North Dakota’s UHNW population grew 14.3%, making it the state with the fastest growing UHNW population.
Florida’s UHNW population increased by more than 10%, adding almost 500 new individuals over the past year, due to strong growth in the state’s financial and real estate sectors.
Michigan added almost 200 new UHNW individuals in 2014 due to rising confidence in the state’s economic outlook.

Wealth-X uses the individual’s primary business address as a determinant of his or her location.

Download the special report, including the United States UHNW population map at this link.

Evercore Wealth Management Names Stephanie Hackett Managing Director, Portfolio Manager

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Evercore Wealth Management LLC has announced the appointment of Stephanie Hackett as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager.

Ms. Hackett joins Evercore Wealth Management from Brandywine Group Advisors, a multifamily office, where she worked for eight years as an investment director. Previously, she worked for seven years at JP Morgan, where she focused on alternative asset management and private banking.

She has significant experience in managing portfolios for high net worth individuals and families that invest in both alternative and traditional asset classes, including public equity, fixed income, hedge funds and private equity strategies.

“We are pleased to welcome Stephanie to our firm,” said Evercore Wealth Management Chief Executive Officer Jeff Maurer. “Her experience in portfolio management and alternative assets in particular will further strengthen our investment management capabilities and support our growing national practice.”

Ms. Hackett reports to Jay Springer, a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Evercore Wealth Management, and is based in New York City. She is a member of the firm’s Manager Selection Committee, which is responsible for the selection, due diligence and on-going monitoring of all third-party investment managers.

She received her Masters of Business Administration from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado. Stephanie holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Latin Americans Save Far Less than What They Will Likely Need for Retirement

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Latin Americans are far more optimistic and confident than the world generally when it comes to their financial future as well as their savings and investment decision-making, according to results of the latest BlackRock Global Investor Pulse survey. Yet, Latin Americans have a critical challenge: In general, they have saved far less than they will likely need to sustain themselves financially in retirement.

The BlackRock survey, one of the largest of its kind globally, is conducted annually on a broad range of financial and investment management topics. This year BlackRock polled 27,500 individuals in 20 nations including, for the first time, 4,000 Latin Americans — 1,000 each from Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

“The Global Investor Pulse survey clearly shows that Latin Americans are strongly motivated to be successful savers and investors, yet have fallen behind in some key planning areas, especially retirement,” said Armando Senra, Head of BlackRock’s Latin America & Iberia Region. “Across the region, individuals urgently need to strengthen their knowledge of effective financial behaviors, and take steps to ensure that they are deploying their money in ways best suited to meet their important long-term goals.”

Nearly three-quarters of Latin Americans (74%) have a positive view of their financial future, particularly Colombians (84%), compared with 56% of respondents globally, the poll indicates. Nearly seven of 10 (68%) Latin Americans are confident that they are making the right savings and investment decisions.

Latin Americans do see risks to their financial futures, in particular, their national economy (58%) and the high cost of living (54%). Many Latin Americans also see worsening conditions in both their national economy (44%) and job market (46%).

Retirement: Knowing What You Want Doesn’t Make It Happen

Latin Americans seem to have the best intentions regarding retirement planning. They are more likely than global investors to have begun saving for retirement (67% vs. 62%), and nearly two-thirds (63%) say they understand how much they need to save for retirement (vs. 50% globally).

Yet, good intentions don’t necessarily translate into effective action. Across the region, the total amounts that Latin Americans have saved for retirement typically equal just one to two years of their desired annual retirement income.

For example, Colombians have saved on average $13.3m COP for retirement – but estimate that they will need $14.9m COP in annual retirement income. The gap between expectation and reality is even wider for Brazilians, who have $10,069 BRL in retirement savings on average, but say they will need $47,500 BRL annually in retirement.

Balancing Retirement Saving with Daily Obligations

Many Latin Americans report being challenged to maintain a focus on retirement saving. Among those not yet fully retired, eight in 10 say that they find it hard to keep up with their bills and save for retirement at the same time. Among Latin Americans who have not started saving for retirement, half cite “not having enough money” as a serious impediment.

Yet, as with their financial lives generally, Latin Americans are highly confident about their retirement prospects. Though many are concerned that they will not be able to live comfortably in retirement, 85% of Latin Americans who have prioritized this goal are confident that they will get there.

“Making retirement a financial priority is essential, but Latin Americans need to make this commitment real by strengthening their savings and investing efforts,” said Senra. “Increasing longevity – the prospect of spending as much as two or three decades in retirement – has made it more vital than ever for individuals globally to plan, save and invest throughout their working years toward the goal of a financially secure retirement.”

Cash Is Favored, But Many Interested in Other Opportunities

Saving money is important to Latin Americans, but they are not necessarily putting their money in the best places now to achieve their long term financial goals.

For Latin Americans, day to day living expenses, including routine bills such as mortgages, rent and utilizes, consume a smaller percentage of monthly household income than across the world generally (27% vs. 32 %). As a result, Latin Americans are able to save (21% vs. 20%) and invest (22% vs.17%), slightly more than the global average.

Yet, Latin Americans, like global investors, have 59% of their investable assets in cash — more than double what they think they should be holding. Four in 10 say they hold cash because it “makes them feel safe.”

The BlackRock poll indicates that many Latin Americans do want their money to work harder for them. Latin Americans are more willing than global investors to take on higher investment risks to achieve higher returns (43% vs. 32%), and many are more interested in stocks today than they were five years ago (44% vs. 27% globally).

And even though only 13% of Latin American investors hold investments outside their home country, 56% say they would like to be able to invest in different countries and stock markets.

Effective Investors Do the Right Things

About one-quarter of Latin Americans (27%) are taking the right steps to manage their finances. These “highly effective” investors live within their means, manage their spending, limit their debt and make a greater commitment to growing their savings and investments. These good “financial behaviors” yield benefits both for the retirement planning process and the investors’ overall positive outlook on their financial futures.

Highly effective investors are often among the Millennial Generation (40%) and Generation X (33%), with a near equal balance of men and women (55% men vs. 45% women). These investors are also likely to be married (55%) and typically with dependent children (70%).

A defining characteristic of highly effective investors is that they find a way to juggle life’s immediate costs ─ such as monthly expenses, education costs, mortgage payments ─ and still plan for long-term goals such as retirement. They are action-oriented when it comes to encountering both planned and unplanned life events rather than letting things just happen, and therefore are less likely to get pushed off track by life’s immediate pressures.

Columbia Management Signs Initiative With Blackstone Alternative AM over Hedge Fund Solutions

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Columbia Management has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (“BAAM”) to research and develop investment solutions that leverage Columbia’s asset management capabilities and Blackstone’s hedge fund solutions business.

Columbia has considerable experience in asset allocation and alternative investing, with Jeff Knight, Global Head of Investment Solutions and Asset Allocation, and William Landes, Ph.D., Deputy Head of Global Investment Solutions, leading the company’s efforts to develop and manage compelling products and solutions for its clients.

Columbia’s expertise in asset allocation, equity and fixed-income investment management, and sub-advisory selection capabilities offers investors a powerful opportunity to help meet their specific needs. The addition of Blackstone’s alternative investment proficiency as captured through existing registered fund solutions will further enhance Columbia’s capability set.

BAAM is the world’s largest discretionary allocator to hedge funds and it strives to provide best-in-class solutions across alternative asset classes and strategies.

“Collaboration with Blackstone will enhance Columbia’s already deep product line-up and should allow us to reach even more investors and distribution partners, both domestically and internationally, with a broad set of alternative investment capabilities,” said Bill Landes. “This is an important opportunity to further enhance our offering of alternative investments and solutions-based strategies.”

“The Question to Ask Is What Percentage of the Portfolio Should Be in Asia and the Answer Should Have Two Digits”

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“La pregunta que hay que hacerse es qué porcentaje de la cartera debe estar en Asia y la respuesta debería tener dos dígitos” — Steven Nicholls, Head of Fixed Income Product Specialists was recently in Madrid with Donald Amstad, Head of Business Development for Asia at Aberdeen AM.. "The Question to Ask Is What Percentage of the Portfolio Should Be in Asia and the Answer Should Have Two Digits"

There is no stopping Asian development, and the best proof of this is the increasing urbanization rate of these countries, which in turn results in an increase in life expectancy, increasingly higher per capita income (especially in the big cities) and, although it may seem an unimportant detail, the constant growth in the use of technology, especially mobile phones. For Donald Amstad, Director of Business Development for Asia at Aberdeen AM, the most representative example of this trend is South Korea, which should serve as a role model for other regions.

Taking into account that Asian currencies are generally cheap, while fixed income offers good returns -especially Asian dollar-denominated bonds which are trading at significant discounts compared to their American counterparts- and equities are not expensive either, investors should have exposure to Asia in their portfolios.

“In this scenario, the question to ask is what percentage of the portfolio should be invested in Asia, and the answer should have two digits,” said the expert, during a recent presentation in Madrid.

During his speech, Donald praised Asia’s growth potential, which is being ignored by developed countries, even though it now contributes 30% of global GDP, and estimates suggest that this figure will rise to 50% in 2050.

And for the first time in many years there is no negativity regarding China in Aberdeen. The reason is that the government has undertaken important steps, more and more people migrate from rural areas to cities, and they are also taking steps to liberalize markets, such as the recent connection between the markets of Shanghai and Hong Kong. They believe that, although growth is slower, a situation like Lehman Brothers is not about to happen. “The government has invested US$4 trillion out of the country and the same amount in domestic companies.”

According to Amstrad, however, the Asian region with the highest potential is India. “It’s definitely the emerging country with most investment opportunities.” And this is due to the good measures taken by both the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the Governor of the Central Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, although there is still much to be done. For example, in spite of its huge population, the percentage of workers is increasing.

Opportunities in emerging markets’ fixed income

Investment opportunities are also to be found in fixed income. As advocated by Steven Nicholls, Head of Fixed Income Product Specialist, the potential of emerging regions is unquestionable. These are regions with a large population, where demand for goods and services is growing, and an “example of this, as Donald said, is the ever increasing use of mobile phones and internet, and not only among the young.” Also, people in rural areas have greater access to information and banking institutions, with transactions, for example, becoming more common.

This does not mean that there are no risks, however, although generally they have more solid and stronger balance sheets than ten years ago and lower levels of debt. In addition, much of the debt is denominated in local currency. “But we must be selective with the countries that are chosen.”

“We believe that besides the growth potential offered by these countries, another indicator that they will continue to give good yields is that demand should be supported in part by institutional investors in high yield corporate issues,” said the expert.

Vanguard to Expand Low-Cost Fixed Income Offerings with New Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund

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Vanguard has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund.

The new actively managed fund will round out Vanguard’s taxable bond fund lineup, which comprises 10 active funds and 12 index funds covering the broad quality and duration spectrum. The fund will invest in high-quality bonds, including a combination of money market, government, and investment-grade corporate securities with an expected average rating of Aa and duration of approximately one year.

“Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund is a low-cost and diversified option for investors seeking to augment the bond component of a balanced portfolio. It will afford investors the opportunity for further duration diversification,” said Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb. “The new fund, however, should not be used as a money market fund substitute, as it will subject investors to some level of principal risk.”

The fund, which is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2015, will offer low-cost Investor Shares and Admiral Shares. Investor Shares, with an estimated expense ratio of 0.20%, will require a minimum initial investment of $3,000. Admiral Shares, with an estimated expense ratio of 0.12%, will require a minimum initial investment of $50,000.

Gregory S. Nassour, CFA and David Van Ommeren, principals and senior portfolio managers in Vanguard Fixed Income Group, will co-manage the new fund. Mr. Nassour, who started at Vanguard in 1992, currently manages multiple investment-grade bond funds. Mr. Van Ommeren joined Vanguard in 1991 and is co-leader of the asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities team.

Allfunds Bank Receives ISO 9001:2008 Certification for its Research Processes

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Allfunds Bank is continuing to build its worldwide investment research capabilities by receiving ISO 9001:2008 certification for its research processes.

The certification -from the one of the most recognized certification bodies, the UK’s National Standards body (BSI)- is important to both asset and wealth management clients as it recognises Allfunds has adopted a consistent approach to the way it operates its research function. This approach emphasises meeting customer requirements, adding value, monitoring performance and effectiveness as well as ensuring continual improvement.

Meeting the Standard also highlights the fact that Allfunds encourages feedback from clients as ISO 9001:2008 requires it to evaluate customer feedback in order to judge whether it has met their requirements – an essential point in the every changing regulatory environment according to Allfunds’ Deputy General Manager, Gianluca Renzini.

“As wealth managers come under increasing cost pressures as their business models evolve to accommodate the current regulatory environment, it’s essential that we provide our clients with a quality option for outsourced fund management research. Attaining this certification speaks to our continuous effort to increase internal process disciplines, provide first-class customer service and makes certain Allfunds Bank’s fund research service remains synonymous with quality,” says Renzini.

California Meets Wall Street: BNY Mellon Establishes Innovation Center in Silicon Valley

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BNY Mellon has established an innovation center in California’s Silicon Valley. The opening of the facility is part of the company’s plans to use emerging and disruptive technologies such as Cloud Computing, Big Data and the Internet of Things to gain new business insights, develop inventive, operational and technological capabilities, and identify potential new ventures that anticipate and cater to emerging client needs.

“BNY Mellon is committed to becoming the financial industry’s technology leader,” said Suresh Kumar, senior executive vice president and chief information officer. “There is no better place in the world to do this than in Silicon Valley, one of the greatest centers of technology and innovation. By tapping into the area’s top tech talent and giving them a space specially-designed for innovation, BNY Mellon will be primed to embrace emerging technology that enables us to better run our businesses and serve our clients.”

Michael Gardner, managing director and head of the company’s Silicon Valley facility, most recently was with Apigee, Inc, where he led research and development, support, security and cloud operations. Previously, he held executive-level engineering posts at various startups and public companies in that region, including LiveOps and eBay.

Gardner will lead BNY Mellon’s efforts to foster collaborative innovation that leverages advanced and prototype technology to develop new offerings, improve customer service and reduce time-to-market. The types of technologies the center will focus on include, but are not limited to, mobile development, cloud computing, application development, information security, decision science/analytics and collaboration technology.

“BNY Mellon already is known for being a foremost provider of technology solutions and infrastructure for the world’s capital markets,” Gardner said. “Through our connection to this community of open collaboration, we can further our promise of technological excellence by bringing new technologies with practical and proven business uses to market more quickly.”

“Mike’s rich background in development, strategic thinking and successful execution will bring new vision and perspective to foresee and nurture innovative breakthroughs to BNY Mellon,” Kumar added.

The Silicon Valley site is BNY Mellon’s fourth global innovation center with a mission to encourage collaborative, break-through thinking that will leverage talent development and lead to innovations for clients. The company already operates similar centers in Jersey City, New Jersey; and Pune and Chennai in India, where employees share ideas that encourage dialogue, creativity and collaboration with staff anywhere in the world.

In addition to the innovation centers, BNY Mellon also provides numerous opportunities for its global employees to offer innovative ideas to enhance businesses or increase revenues. For example, the company’s A.C.E. (Accelerate, Collaborate and Execute) Awards give employees the opportunity to compete for cash awards, an opportunity to work full-time in an incubator on the start-up of the winning idea and – if implemented – share up to 10 percent of the value the winning idea creates. Also, the company offers an Innovation Boot Camp, which is a unique training program offered in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, designed to help participants generate stronger innovative ideas, evaluate innovative ideas for business impact, use business cases to gain greater support for ideas and develop implementation plans to advance ideas.

Jean Lemierre Appointed as BNP Paribas Group Chairman and Director

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The Board of Directors of BNP Paribas has appointed Jean Lemierre as Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors.

He succeeds Baudouin Prot, who informed the Board of Directors on 26 September of his decision to step down as Chairman and Director from the 1st December 2014.

With the other members of the Board, Jean Lemierre will oversee the implementation of the Group’s business development plan as well as the reinforcement of its governance and of its internal control measures put in place in recent months.

Since September 2008, Jean Lemierre has acted as advisor to BNP Paribas and as its international representative with regulators as well as economic and political leaders.

Before joining BNP Paribas, he carried out two mandates as President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2000-2008). In addition, he served as Head of the French Treasury (1995-2000).

Investec: “Our Preferred Asset Class Is High Yielding Equities, Which We Think Are Reasonably Valued”

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How will the potential move away from zero interest rates influence markets? John Stopford, Co-Head of Multi-Asset at Investec Asset Management, gives his view on this interview about the implications for high yield equities, income investors, emerging markets and more.

What has surprised you most in 2014?

One of the things that surprised me most is how much pessimism around the global economy has affected people’s expectations of US interest rate pricing. To our minds, the US economy is diverging, to some extent, from other economies and is creating room for the US to raise interest rates at some point in 2015. However, this has been largely priced out of markets, as markets worry about slowdowns in Europe, China and elsewhere. This has obviously had quite a big impact on bond markets and, to some extent, other asset prices as well.

Should we be concerned about US interest rates in 2015?

We think interest rate developments in the next 12 months are going to be very important. Clearly one of the key drivers of asset markets in recent years has been the very low level of interest rates and the promise by central banks to keep interest rates at low levels for a considerable period. If this driver is beginning to change then investors need to factor that into their investment thinking. We think it is highly likely that the US Federal Reserve will raise rates next year. We also think that this is a fairly significant development that will lead to a pick-up in volatility. It will cause more divergence between US assets and other markets, particularly the dollar, but also bond markets. It will create some noise in equities, although we think that equities should be able to ride through the noise and will be more focused on whether the global economy as a whole is going to expand.

How are you going to be managing your income portfolios?

The best way, we believe, to manage income asset exposure is to take a broad diversified approach. The world of income generation has widened out and it is no longer just a bond story. There are other assets – such as high yielding equities, property and infrastructure – that can provide part of an income solution. All income generating assets these days bring risks with them because all of the safe assets are pretty expensive: cash rates are very low, government bond rates are very low, so if you want to generate more income you have to take more risk. Therefore, to manage that we think you need to strike a balance between opportunity and risk management. One of the easiest ways of managing risk is to diversify and to actively manage the exposure that you take.

What are the biggest risks to these views?

We think there are both upside and downside risks. The main downside risk is the global economy is struggling to grow at a rate that will close output gaps and allow a more normal recovery. This is putting downward pressure on inflation. We may have reached a limit in terms of what monetary policy can do to offset this. There is also the risk that we might be in an uncomfortable economic environment. Asset prices may react badly to this risk, particularly some of the more growth-oriented assets.

But it is also possible that the world is already priced for a pessimistic outcome and potentially there are some upside risks in places like the US where we think growth may turn out to be stronger than people currently think, interest rates may rise somewhat faster than the market is pricing in and this will also potentially have an impact on the absolute relative pricing of assets, such as the dollar, equities, bond yi elds and so on.

How are you positioning your portfolio in terms of strategy?

At the moment our preferred asset class is high yielding equities, which we think are reasonably valued and which we think should benefit from a global expansion that could continue for some years given there are not many pressures on central banks to tighten monetary policy aggressively. We think that against that background earnings can come through, dividends can continue to rise and so equity income should do relatively well.

We are more cautious about high yield and credit in general, as we think this asset class has been the major beneficiary of low interest rates and is now a very crowded trade. It also tends to do less well towards the latter part of an economic cycle and looks reasonably expensive to us. We are underweighting high yield and are more neutral towards some of the other income-generating assets, such as emerging market debt and property, where we think having some exposure makes sense, but perhaps not too much.