Photo: Romina Campos. Henderson Makes a New Appointment in Uruguay
Capitalising on its growing presence in Latin America, Henderson Global Investors has appointed John Philip Davies of Accurate Partners, as its representative in Uruguay based in Montevideo to work with global and local leading private banks. Commenting on the appointment Ignacio de la Maza, Director of Sales Iberia and Latin America, said “This strategic appointment aims to develop Henderson’s presence in Uruguay while enabling the firm to further deliver and re-enforce its commitment to better service for clients in the region.”
John has had a distinguished career to date having started his profession at Bank Boston in Uruguay and Argentina before working for Deutsche Bank in London, and then becoming the Regional Head Latin American for Dominion Funds, a niche Swiss Fund Manager. His previous position was Senior Sales Executive for MAN Group in Latin America. John has a BA in Business Administration from ORT University in Uruguay and Masters in Finance from CASS Business School in London.
Henderson Global Investors is already active in various Latin American markets with a diverse array of investment funds. All of these products are available to Henderson’s clients in Uruguay as well, including the principal Luxembourg based SICAVs.
Ignacio de la Maza added: “There is a clear and growing commitment on behalf of Henderson to work in the region and to this end the Latin American Sales Team will continue to be strengthened”.
Manchester Capital Management (MCM) announced that Daniel Goldstein has joined MCM as a Senior Managing Director based out of its Montecito office.
In his role, Daniel will be working closely with clients and Ted Cronin, CEO of MCM, to advise on wealth management and family office services. Daniel’s extensive experience with the many varied aspects of running a single family office will complement the skills of the MCM team, allowing the firm to offer a more comprehensive array of services.
Founded in 1993, MCM is a boutique wealth management firm with 33 professionals advising wealthy families across the United States. The firm maintains offices in Manchester, VT, Montecito, CA, Charlottesville, VA and New York, NY.
For twenty years prior to joining the firm, Mr. Goldstein was advising ultra high-net-worth families across Europe and in the United States on their liquid investments, businesses, structuring, direct real estate investments, family dynamics, yachts, concierge services and philanthropy. For 15 years he was a director of a global single family office principally located in Europe, with activities ranging across Europe, the U.S., Africa and India. Previously he was the investment analyst on a two-person team managing a $1.25B portfolio for a U.S. family foundation. He has spoken at and chaired numerous family office, investment, family business and philanthropy events around the world.
As a Board member, he has helped found and develop several international non-profit organizations. Before entering the family office field, Daniel worked in finance in both the private and public sectors in the U.S. He earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Colgate University, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance and an M.S. in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, both with honors.
BNY Mellon announced it has reached an agreement to sell its One Wall Street office building in lower Manhattan for $585 million to a joint venture led by Macklowe Properties. The sale was brokered by CBRE. The sale is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.
“We’re pleased to have reached this agreement. Once finalized, it will advance our plan to consolidate office space in New York City, lead to a more functional and efficient work environment for our employees, and deliver a solid financial gain to the company,” said Gerald L. Hassell, chairman and chief executive officer of BNY Mellon. “We expect to announce our decision for new leased space in the New York region in the next two months.”
BNY Mellon has occupied the 50 story, 1.1 million square foot building since 1989, when The Bank of New York acquired the Irving Trust Company. The company’s headquarters moved from 48 Wall Street to One Wall Street in 1998. The original lot was purchased by the Irving Trust Company in 1927 for $14.5 million and construction was completed in March 1931. The building, considered one of New York’s landmark Art Deco skyscrapers, was designed by architects Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker. Maine granite was used for the base, and the building is sheathed with Indiana limestone.
Macklowe Properties was founded in the mid-1960s by Harry Macklowe. For the past 40 years, the company has been an active and profitable developer, acquirer, redeveloper, owner, and manager of a diverse array of real estate investments. The company has successfully achieved a full level of vertical integration, combining design, planning, construction, management, accounting, and executive-level ownership and operation to provide for absolute responsibility and control over its assets. These investments, which have covered virtually every sector of the property market, have included the development, acquisition, and repositioning of office and apartment buildings, land assemblages, and conversion of industrial and loft properties. In the aggregate, these developments have totaled over 10 million square feet and have taken place in nearly every commercial and residential submarket of Manhattan.
Photo: Mattbuck. Horizons ETFs and Fiduciaria Bogotá Launch an ETF that Tracks S&P Colombia Select Index
Horizons ETFs Management (LATAM), a member of the Horizons ETFs Group, has announced the launch of its second Latin American exchange traded fund, the Fondo Bursátil Horizons Colombia Select de S&P, which provides investors with exposure to the S&P Colombia Select Index. The Horizons Colombia Select ETF began trading on Thursday on the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (BVC) under the ticker symbol HCOLSEL.
The Horizons Colombia Select ETF will seek to replicate the returns of the Index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC designed the Index to provide exposure to the largest and most liquid domestic stock issuers in Colombia. S&P’s selection universe for the Index is based on all the securities in the S&P Colombia BMI that trade on the BVC.
The Horizons Colombia Select ETF was developed in association with Fiduciaria Bogotá S.A., one of Colombia’s largest mutual fund providers. Fidubogotá will act as the management company to the Horizons Colombia Select ETF and Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc., an affiliate of Horizons LatAm, will act as portfolio manager.
“With a single investment, investors can now have efficient access to the Colombian equity markets,” said Federico Torres, Head of Latin American Sales for Horizons LatAm. “In our view S&P has developed a superior index strategy for Colombia which reduces the issuer and sector concentration risks that exist in current Colombian stock market benchmarks. Since no single stock will have more than a 15 per cent weight in the Index and no sector will have more than a 40 per cent weight, investors in the Horizons Colombia Select ETF can be confident they will be gaining exposure to a more diversified Colombian solution than what currently exists,” added Torres.
“The Horizons Colombia Select ETF is our second ETF launch in Latin America, and gives investors low cost exposure to a more diversified index than other benchmarks in the marketplace,” said Howard Atkinson, Managing Director of Horizons LatAm and the Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Mirae Asset Global Investments’ ETF business. “One of our strategic objectives is to take the best practices we’ve learned from our global ETF business and leverage them in local markets. We have a strong business relationship globally with S&P and are pleased to be able to offer their top-tier index strategies to Latin American investors.”
The Horizons Select Colombia ETF is the first ETF launched in the Colombian market and administered by Fidubogotá, the local pioneer of end-to-end custody and administration solutions for funds.
“We are very proud to bring this product to market in conjunction with Horizons ETFs. For us, it is essential that fiduciaries, especially Fiduciaria Bogotá, offer products that have been developed according to international standards,” said Cesar Prado, President of Fidubogotá. “We think the combination of our strong local presence combined with an adherence to global best practices puts us in a unique position to offer value to a capital markets sector that has been historically dominated by foreign competitors.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: cbaskin99. Seis consejos para maximizar el rendimiento en un entorno de tipos bajos
With interest rates still so low by historical standards, fixed income is potentially overvalued. In addition, low interest rates for a long period of time have led to stretched valuations in other asset classes such as equity and credit. Benjamin Nastou, CFA, and Natalie Shapiro, Ph.D., Quantitative Portfolio Managers at MFS, published recently an Investment Insight, highlighting that in this circumstances, a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds can probably be expected to generate lower returns than such a portfolio would have delivered historically.
Therefore alpha — or return over the benchmark — that can be added through active management will probably be more important than it has been historically. For example, an extra 100 basis points of return represents a much higher percentage of expected total return at 4% – 5% than at 8% – 9%.
In this kind of environment, the quantitative portfolio managers at MFS would think about making a few sensible tilts to take advantage of investment opportunities that may help to improve risk-adjusted performance. Note that these suggestions are based largely on the valuation component of their quantitative process highlighting that while valuation works well in the long run, patience may be required over the periods when valuation does not work as an investment signal.
These are their suggestions:
Exercise caution overall. With the possibility that both stocks and bonds may be overvalued, we would expect to hold a little more cash than usual.
Avoid taking excessive duration risk. At such low interest rates, bond investors are probably not being compensated for the risk of rising rates.
Exercise caution with high-yield and high-grade bonds. We may not be seeing asset quality issues, but with discount rates and credit spreads so low, high-yield and high-grade valuations appear stretched. This suggests that bond investors are not being compensated for credit risk.
Exercise caution with respect to US equities. The United States has enjoyed stronger performance relative to most other markets, leaving US stocks looking expensive by historical standards.
Avoid emphasizing small-cap over large-cap equities. Within the US equity market, small caps have had the strongest performance and look the most stretched from a valuation perspective. For context, when small caps were more expensive than large caps in the early 1980s, large caps outperformed small caps by 6% annually over the subsequent decade, and the valuation gap between small caps and large caps is even greater now.
Consider non-US and emerging market equities. This may be challenging given the lingering economic problems in some emerging countries, but from a valuation perspective, we believe stocks in these markets appear priced to deliver returns that are more in line with their historical averages.
Of course, no investment strategy — including asset allocation — can guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. But according to MFS, these steps may help to make the most of a low-return environment. The authors conclude the report saying: “And we always advocate the importance of investing over a longer time horizon, establishing a broadly diversified portfolio and rebalancing regularly as the cornerstone of a disciplined investment process, and working with skilled managers who have demonstrated the ability to add alpha through superior security selection in stock and bond markets”.
In a new research, Credit Suisse assess the demographic (“consumers and workers”) case for emerging markets (EM), arguing that they are “still very relevant and important”. The report provides a demographic perspective focused on fundamentals and argues that from a consumer and worker viewpoint and based on growth potential, emerging economies are still relevant and important for global growth.
“They are important for global companies based on their large potential markets given the emerging middle class consumers and increasingly skilled and educated workers. From an investment perspective too, given the smaller equity and bond markets but higher savings of emerging markets against the need for infrastructure and investments, emerging markets should remain attractive. But this will be subject to caveats of good corporate governance, transparency of investment process, ease of repatriating capital gains or dividends abroad. The role of emerging markets in world trade has increased. While the heterogeneity across emerging markets is high, a globalized world where flow of information, goods, services and people has become easier, more emerging markets are now part of the global economic and investment diáspora”.
These are the conclusions:
Emerging economies account for 39% of global GDP in current USD terms, 50.4% of global GDP in PPP terms, 82.5% of global population, 49.6% of global exports and 11.5% of global market cap based on latest available data. The 2013 GDP growth of emerging markets was 3.4% p.a. higher than that of advanced countries. The population growth of developing regions is projected to be 1% higher than that of developed regions in 2010-2015. Their old-age dependency ratio is projected to be 40% of that in developed regions.
Credit Suisse studied 10 emerging market economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE and Ukraine comparing them to USA, Germany and Japan. China and Nigeria are most promising in terms of GDP growth and GDP per capita growth.
The demographic dividend theory attributes the contribution of demographic factors to GDP per capita growth in two stages. The first stage applies to young emerging economies where youth and human capital skills play a major role. The second stage applies to more developed ageing economies where harnessing of the accumulated savings via well-developed capital markets contributes to growth in GDP per capita.
The potential first stage demographic dividend is still available to young economies like India, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and Mexico. They can reap the dividend by increasing education and skills as well as reducing the male vs. female labour force participation gap. The first dividend appears to be over for Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine and therefore it is essential to have financial markets to capitalize on their savings growth during the second stage – this requires more financial market development.
Financial market development depends on other institutional factors such as law and order, political risk, corporate governance, transparency etc. UAE is the least corrupt, most competitive and easy to do business within our sample but is the least democratic. Ukraine and Nigeria are ranked as most corrupt and least competitive. These institutional factors need to be improved in order to foster financial market development.
The rising middle class in these countries offers great potential for global companies. An increasing share of the middle class is projected to come from emerging markets in the future with China and India projected to overtake the USA in terms of share in global middle class consumption.
BNY Mellon has appointed Antonio I. Portuondo president of The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., a nationally chartered trust company with offices throughout the United States, effective May 7, 2014.
In his role as president, Portuondo will oversee the company, which delivers a broad range of trust, custody and agency services to issuers of debt and institutional investors. Portuondo replaces Troy Kilpatrick, who recently left the company.
Portuondo joined BNY Mellon in 1998 and is currently head of the public, not-for profit sales and relationship management team in the U.S. for BNY Mellon Corporate Trust. In this role, he has primary responsibility for the public, not-for profit corporate trust business, comprising more than 10,000 clients. Portuondo, who has more than 21 years of experience in the corporate trust industry, has held a variety of management positions in account administration, sales and relationship management. He also served as the chief administrative officer for the public, not-for profit Corporate Trust business.
“Tony has consistently demonstrated the value of his experience with the public, not-for profit sector and his expertise in relationship management, making him an ideal choice for this strategically important position. As we build for the future, his deep understanding of the corporate trust business will be key to our success,” said Eric D. Kamback, CEO of BNY Mellon Corporate Trust.
As of March 31, 2014, BNY Mellon Corporate Trust served as trustee and/or paying agent on more than 65,000 debt-related issues globally. Its clients include governments and their agencies, multinational corporations, financial institutions and other entities that access the global debt capital markets. The corporate trust business utilizes its global footprint and expertise to deliver a full range of issuer and related investor services and to develop customized and market-driven solutions. Its range of core services includes debt trustee, paying agency, escrow and other fiduciary offerings.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrGonzalo Cuadrado Quiles is the Latin American Equity Fund manager at EDM Gestión. The Bottom-up Approach of the EDM Latin American Equity Fund Takes its Manager to... Brazil
It was just a few months ago that EDM Gestión decided to expand the stock markets in which it invests to Latin America, and that the company registered a fund in Luxembourg focusing on shares of companies within the region, which is managed with the same philosophy that has brought them so much success in their Spanish and European equity funds.
Gonzalo Cuadrado Quiles, manager at EDM Gestión, has been in charge of the project since its inception and, in an interview with Funds Society, recognizes the attractiveness of this whole new world of opportunities. Especially after the emerging markets’ scene in recent months, which saw investors making massive withdrawals of capital which have caused declines in valuations in markets like Brazil. In these times of great inefficiencies, when many investors who replicate indexes are forced to exit, is when a company like EDM can offer value. “This is where a management company of modest size can take advantage of the inefficiencies, and, through active management, provide additional value by means of a good research,” he said. Sometimes, due to their large size, funds can not take advantage of opportunities in smaller companies and that is a limitation which EDM isn’t faced with.
And it’s in those great inefficiencies which are created by massive outflows or by the size of the companies, where the manager finds value to construct the fund’s portfolio, which he admits he is still in the process of building. Although the portfolio is not yet fully constructed, it already offers returns of around 5%.
Through a process identical to that of other EDM European or Spanish vehicles, which is based on the selection of companies according to their fundamentals (high-ROE, visibility on earnings growth, sustainable and stable cash flows, low debt, quality management teams with integrity, and reasonable valuations), and on a process of long-term investment, the manager is ready to invest in any country, any sector and in any size company, although his steps led him especially to Brazil (with a portfolio weight of 45%) and Mexico (26%), with the rest in companies from countries like Chile or Peru.
Opportunities in Brazil
Although he insists that this composition is purely a result of the selection of companies, it is also obvious that Brazil is a market which actually offers many opportunities. First, says Cuadrado, by developing its equity market, which has boosted the number of companies, and which in turn offers more opportunities, at least in numerical terms. Secondly, he recognizes that Brazil has been under the spotlight of international investors and has suffered more than other markets in the region, a de-rating which has left valuations at attractive levels, although he focuses primarily on the quality of the companies. And he also admits that a change in government could help in the future. Among his investments are Localiza, the car hire market leader; the aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, and Vale, the basic materials company.
Cuadrado is not in favor of comparing prices in Brazil and Mexico, since the composition of the two markets is different; he also has a great part of the fund’s positions in the North American country, in companies like Gruma (world leader in packaged flour pancakes), a company with a lot of exposure to the U.S.
Cuadrado does not mind investing in European or American firms with exposure to Latin America (like the Spanish company Prosegur, with 85% of its EBITDA in Latam) or Latin American companies which have exposure to other parts of the world. In fact, he believes that the internationalization process to compete with European or U.S. firms is a value catalyst of the local companies which have done very well for decades. In fact, he reminds us that some sound and liquid companies are taking positions in Spanish firms. Other catalysts which will propel Latin American companies are the low private leverage (of households and businesses in the region), the need for development of tertiary services, which in many Latin countries are a far cry from those in Europe or USA, or the potential for consumer credit. Therefore, although his investment process focuses on companies, he admits that macroeconomics offer much potential to his fundamentals: policies to improve infrastructure in the region or the demographic factor (for example, a large percentage of the population under 25 years of age unlike the aging in Europe) provide the potential for the growth of many businesses in the region. “There is much talk about the poor state of Latin American economies, but it is not as alarming as it is usually portrayed: each country has an independent monetary authority, institutions which are increasingly sounder, less debt than many developed countries, smaller deficits, and with the exception of Brazil, controlled inflation,” explained the manager.
In addition, cash outflows in recent years in emerging economies and the concentration of flows in Europe or the U.S. make it increasingly more difficult to find opportunities in the developed world. “The times of cheap money in U.S. are over but that has already been gradually assimilated,” he says regarding the threat that tapering will pose for emerging economies. On the other hand, it seems logical that at some point the global flows will turn around to favor developing markets once again.
A Growing Appetite
Cuadrado explains that the fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, is attracting investors mainly from Spain and Europe, and already boasts 16.5 million Euros in volume. Their expectations are also for growth, both by the behavior of markets (“Latin America has a higher growth potential, although with other risks,” says the manager) and by flows. At EDM, they expect the demand to come not only from Europe, but also from Latin American clients, channeled through its sales organization in Mexico and due to the satisfaction with European or Spanish stock funds under the company’s management, and to the growth in active management. “There are not many managers characterized by their selection of securities and exposure is more common through ETFs,” he says. That is why this fund may provide them value.
Cuadrado manages the fund from Barcelona, but has frequent meetings with companies, whether in Latin America or in London, where the roadshow campaigns are targeted, because knowing the companies is a basic premise to invest in them.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhotos: Funds Society. Pioneer Investments Meets its Private Banking Clients at a Bayside Gathering in Miami
Pioneer Investments invited its international private banking clients in Miami to enjoy an evening on the shores of the bay, at the Cipriani restaurant, one of the finest in the city.
The cocktail event featured a performance by Dylan Ace, a magician and illusionist who is well-known for his appearances in major television networks in the United States and Latin America.
Through this event, and under the banner “Committed to Global Leadership through Innovation and Consistency”, Pioneer wished to thank its clients for their confidence in the company’s investment products.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Alispire, Flickr, Creative Commons. La industria de activos europea etiqueta sus fondos de inversión responsable
The Luxembourg Fund Labelling Agency (LuxFLAG) has announced the launch of the LuxFLAG ESG Label. The ESG Label will be granted to investment funds which meet specific criteria related to their respect of Environment, Social and Governance objectives. The Label is available to UCITS and AIFMD funds domiciled throughout Europe or in equivalent jurisdictions. Three asset management companies have already committed to apply for the new ESG label: OFI Asset Management, Nordea and Sparinvest.
“Over the past ten years, the responsible investment sector has grown at a rate that has outstripped growth in most other investment strategies. The LuxFLAG ESG Label is a new tool in the broad range of initiatives that encourage fund stakeholders to act responsibly and aim for the achievement of a better and sustainable future. We in Luxembourg strongly support this goal” commented Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
“The new LuxFLAG Label is appropriate for investment funds which truly incorporate disciplined ESG criteria in their investment process. It will help these funds differentiate themselves from other offerings in the market place and it will help investors make informed decisions through the enhanced transparency and visibility the label provides”, said Mr Thomas Seale, Chairman of LuxFLAG.
Mr Seale continued: “As there is no existing product based label covering ESG, the new ESG Label by Luxflag fills a gap in the European investment fund market.”
Responsible Investing is an exciting area and is steadily gaining momentum with investors showing a growing interest in investment strategies that integrate Environmental, Social and corporate Governance criteria into the investment process. According to the KPMG RI Fund Survey 2013, the ESG category is by far the largest of all categories in the RI landscape, both in number of funds with 1,135 and in total AuM with EUR 198 billion (2012). In terms of creation of new funds, the sector demonstrated a steady increase. Approximately 100 funds were created in 2010-2011 and 62 new funds in 2012.
The financial crisis has forced the asset management industry to set up minimum standards and mechanisms to build up transparency and credibility within the financial sector. Asset managers now recognise that the integration of these standards in the investment process is a requirement from the investor community.
Until now LuxFLAG has offered two thematic labels: microfinance and environment. It has seen a two-fold increase in the number of funds it labels in the last two years as the number of responsible investing investment funds in Europe is growing.
The ESG Label is granted for a period of one year and can be renewed. The Label is granted by LuxFLAG’s Board of Directors, based upon an application by the investment fund including information reviewed by an auditor, and a recommendation by LuxFLAG’s Eligibility Committee of specialists.
The Eligibility Committee for the new Label is composed of: Nathalie Dogniez, Partner, PwC Luxembourg; Ulrika Hasselgren, President, Ethix SRI Advisors Sweden; Adrie Heinsbroek, Sustainability Advisor, ING, the Netherlands; Nicolas Hennebert, Partner, Deloitte Luxembourg; and Hakan Lucius, Head of Division, Corporate Responsibility and Civil Society, European Investment Bank.
