MSCI, a provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, announced that it is significantly expanding its presence in Latin America with the opening of a new office in Santiago, Chile and the upcoming launch of a new index designed to capture the investment opportunities in the Latin America Pacific Alliance countries of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
The firm also announced today that it has been chosen by the Santiago Stock Exchange to produce a study on the feasibility of creating an ESG index for the Chilean Stock Market.
“The decision to open an office in Chile and to expand our presence in Latin America has been driven by the growing sophistication of the local investment community as they continue to embrace indexes as integral tools within the investment process,” said Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI.
The new office will support the Andean region and is the third in Latin America, alongside offices in Mexico and Brazil, expanding MSCI’s presence to 24 countries globally. The new office is located at Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.
Photo: J.Ligero & I.Barrios. Crédit Agricole CIB Appoints Head of Global Investment Banking in Americas
Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank has announced the appointment of Benoit Fosseprez as Head of Americas GIB (Global Investment Banking). This new regional position is created in a move to foster greater development of its investment banking business in the Americas.
An officer of the bank for the past 13 years, Mr. Fosseprez had since September 2012 served in New York City as Managing Director, Global Head of Telecoms and Head of TMT (Telecom-Media-Tech Investment Banking) Americas. He will continue to make his office in New York.
“The promotion of Benoit to Head of Investment Banking in the Americas underscores the commitment and determined focus Crédit Agricole CIB is making to further develop our activities and participation in North and South Americas, as well as to better service our many clients in the region,” said Jean-François Deroche, CEO of Credit Agricole CIB in the Americas. “Benoit’s deep, successful experience as an investment banker in many markets in EMEA, Asia and Americas makes him well suited to lead this effort, which will involve both domestic and cross-border capabilities.”
Among his responsibilities, Mr. Fosseprez will supervise ECM (Equity Capital Markets), M&A, SET (Strategic Equity Transactions) and SFS (Structured Financial Solutions). Christina Livas, Head of GIB for Brazil, will also report to him. Mr. Fosseprez will report locally to New York City-based Stephane Publie, Head of CIN and GIB for the Americas, and globally to Helene Combe-Guillemet, Head of GIB in Paris.
Mr. Fosseprez since joining Crédit Agricole has served in Paris as M&A banker, TMT Investment Banking Director and, later, TMT Managing Director and Global Head of Telecom. He has been in New York City in his most recent assignment since September 2012. Prior to joining Crédit Agricole, and following service as a French naval officer, he was an auditor with Price Waterhouse Coopers in Paris. Mr. Fosseprez holds a Master’s Degree with a Major in Corporate Finance from the EDHEC Business School. He also attended the International University of Business and Economics in Beijing, China.
Head of M&A
Simultaneously, Crédit Agricole CIB also reported the appointment of John Hartke, who joined Crédit Agricole in April 2012, as Head of M&A for the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
“We are pleased to welcome John to his new position,” said Mr. Deroche. “Since he joined us in April of last year from BofA Merrill Lynch, he brought us his broad M&A banking experience and contributed to our first successes in the Region in 2013. He will now supervise the origination and execution of M&A transactions, in addition to continuing to develop business in all three countries.”
Mr. Hartke was for 10 years an M&A investment banker with Merrill Lynch in New York City. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
. Hines Sells a Portfolio of Six Mexican Properties to Fibra Uno
The Mexico City office of Hines, the international real estate firm, has announced the sale of a portfolio of five industrial assets and one retail center to Fibra Uno, a Mexico-based real estate investment trust. Financials on the deal were not disclosed. The Mexico City office of Savills represented Hines in the transaction, while Fibra Uno was self-represented.
The 100 percent leased industrial portfolio consists of five assets with an NRA of 119,133 square meters (1.3M square feet). Two of the properties are located in Guadalajara, one in Irapuato, one in Aguascalientes and one in San Luis Potosi. Hines developed the portfolio in 2009, and the predominantly international tenant base is comprised of a mix of light manufacturing and logistics operations.
The 98 percent leased retail center, CityCenter Merida, is a thriving, 26,264-square-meter, open-air shopping/entertainment center in Merida, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The property contains more than 60 shops and restaurants, including a Walmart Supercenter, La Europea gourmet specialty store, a Cinemark XD cinema complex, in addition to a host of the city’s most popular bars and restaurants. Since Hines completed the project in 2010, CityCenter Merida has established itself as the most vibrant retail and entertainment center in the city.
“Hines is proud of the quality of the assets we have developed, and we view this sale as another example of the firm’s strength as both a developer, and a shrewd investor in institutional -grade real estate across Mexico,” stated Hines Senior Managing Director Palmer Letzerich. “We have confidence in Mexico’s growth potential, evidenced by the strong returns generated by this portfolio. We also view this transaction as a harbinger of the increasingly positive real estate investment market here as well as our team’s ability to successfully execute south of the border”.
Hines Managing Director – Investment Management, Michael Krause, added, “Over the last 10 years, Hines has invested over $850M across the major markets of Mexico. This most recent and successful monetization paves the way for Hines to execute on the subsequent five year investment strategy of placing $250M in select office and industrial acquisitions and developments.”
Hines entered the Mexico real estate market in 1992. Currently, the firm owns and manages approximately 14 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space there. Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,283 properties representing more than 516 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. Currently, Hines manages 378 properties totaling 151.9 million square feet, which includes 84.3 million square feet for third parties.
Joshua Reich, co-founder and CEO at Simple, and Shamir Karkal, co-founder and CFO. BBVA Compass Acquires Simple to Accelerate BBVA's Digital Banking Expansion
BBVA has agreed to acquire Simple, a US-based company that has created a new standard in digital banking. The acquisition is part of BBVA’s strategy to lead the technology-driven change that is transforming the financial services industry. The transaction values Simple at $117 million.
BBVA will complete the purchase through US-based BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc., which will in time help Simple develop new products and services. With the support of the BBVA Group, Simple will be able to expand beyond the US and enter new markets.
“Simple’s customer experience is unmatched in the digital banking world,” said BBVA Chairman & CEO Francisco González. “Simple will reinforce our global digital transformation while BBVA will provide the means to help Simple maximize its outstanding growth potential.”
Simple, based in Portland, Oregon, was founded in 2009 and its commercial launch took place in July 2012. It now has more than 100,000 customers across the United States, a fivefold increase since the end of 2012. Simple offers users everything they need to spend smarter and save more. Customers get a Simple Visa® card, powerful iOS and Android apps, integrated savings tools, and real customer service.
Simple will continue to operate separately under the same brand, with the same philosophy and approach to customer experience. Joshua Reich, co-founder and CEO, and Shamir Karkal, co-founder and CFO, will continue to lead the 92-employe team that works at Simple.
“Joining with BBVA gives Simple the resources and global footprint we need to see our vision writ large,” said Joshua Reich. “BBVA believes in our vision and the course we have set to transform the industry.”
Commitment to innovation
The investment in Simple is yet another example of BBVA’s commitment to innovation amid the rapid technology-driven change that is transforming the financial services industry. BBVA is introducing new products and services through a variety of initiatives, developed both in-house and through its investments in leading startups aiming to reinvent the financial services industry.
BBVA, through its corporate venture arm BBVA Ventures, is actively investing in disruptive initiatives in financial services. Some of its current investments include SumUp, the Berlin-headquartered startup enabling mobile point of sale payments; Radius, a US-based company providing business insight into millions of SME businesses; Freemonee, which analyzes its customers’ transactional data to create relevant offers from retailers; Ribbit Capital, a financial technology-focused venture capital fund; and the seed-capital fund and accelerator program 500 Startups. BBVA Ventures operates through BBVA’s representative office in San Francisco.
Photo: Chedraui. Grupo Chedraui CFO Named Latin Trade CFO of the Year
The Latin Trade Group announces its selection of Rafael ContrerasGrosskelwing, CFO of Grupo Comercial Chedraui, as Latin Trade Group’s CFO of the Year. With this award, Contreras joins the ranks of some of the most distinguished financial executives in Latin America.
Contreras was chosen for “guiding the finances of Grupo Chedraui, his accomplished CFO track record and his passion for future business,” said Ramon Leal Chapa, the Alfa CFO who won last year’s award. Leal Chapa presented Contreras with his award during the Latin Trade CFO Forum at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico City.
Present at the event were Latin Trade Group Chairman Richard Burns, Executive Director Maria Lourdes Gallo, Contributing Editor LT CFO Events Mark Ludwig, Chief Mexico Economist Carlos Capistran, and members of the CFO Board of Advisors: Empresas ICA’s Victor Bravo Martin; Bio Pappel’s Mayela Rincon and President of CHPS International LLC Philippe Schrader.
Guests included CFOs, financial directors, credit and country controllers, consultants, chief investment officers, heads of treasury and risk managers from 32 leading Mexican and international companies, as well as guest speaker Rocio Ruiz Chavez, Undersecretary of Competitiveness and Business Regulation at Mexico’s Ministry of Economy.
The event was sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BoardVantage, and CAF.
Rafael Contreras became Director of Finance and Administration at Grupo Comercial Chedraui in 2000. His achievements include leading the company’s IPO in 2010, as well as the acquisition of Grupo Carrefour Mexico in 2005. The acquisition of Carrefour opened the doors to the Mexico City market for Chedraui, boosting its sales by 40 percent. The company now has 211 stores in Mexico and is the country’s third largest supermarket chain.
“Our strategies include offering the best prices, which we make sure of by analyzing prices in the market and adjust our prices on a daily basis. We offer a wide range of products, and a comfortable shopping experience for our customers,” Contreras said during his keynote speech.
Before working with Chedraui, Contreras was Corporate Director of Administration and Finance at restaurant operating company Alsea, leading the company’s IPO in 1993.
LT CFO Forum are private events that offer CFOs, finance directors, treasurers and controllers from various industries in Latin America the opportunity to participate in high-level peer group discussions and interact in a private setting. The events equip CFOs with expert insight that helps them prepare for challenges across domestic and international borders.
Since 2005 LT CFO Events foster a greater level of discussion and interaction between senior executives focusing on the trends, challenges and solutions through regional events in Miami and local chapters in key markets in Latin America.
Foto: Germania_Rodriguez, Flickr, Creative Commons.. Pioneer Investments amplía su gama de fondos alternativos con liquidez diaria
Global asset manager Pioneer Investments has announced the addition of new liquid alternative strategies through simultaneous product launches across global markets. Three strategies are available as U.S. mutual funds and two are non-U.S. funds available internationally. One of the strategies being offered in the U.S. uses similar investment techniques to a strategy that has been available outside the U.S. since 2010.
“Liquid alternatives represent an important evolution for Pioneer and an area where we have made a significant commitment on a global scale,” said Giordano Lombardo, Group Chief Investment Officer. “We believe global demand for liquid alternatives products will continue to grow as investors seek additional strategies beyond traditional fixed income approaches to manage interest rate and credit risks across all market cycles,” he said.
Pioneer’s liquid alternative capabilities build on the firm’s expertise in managing a wide range of fixed-income strategies aimed at navigating challenging global bond markets, including multisector and unconstrained bond, emerging market debt, and floating rate loan strategies.
Lombardo said, “We believe that our new suite of liquid alternatives strategies offers a differentiated approach that can help meet the needs of a wide range of investors. Pioneer’s approach to liquid alternative investing employs our entire global fixed income expertise in Boston, Dublin and London. We use absolute return strategies that seek to generate positive returns with low or negative correlations to broader fixed income and equity markets. As part of this process, we are expanding the use of our distinctive proprietary risk budgeting capability that we have been using successfully for several years to drive a highly disciplined investment process.”
The new strategies are supported by Pioneer’s global fixed income team of 63 portfolio managers, 27 credit analysts and 12 portfolio construction / risk management analysts. The strategies leverage the company’s global resources in risk management, compliance, distribution, technology, and operations. The products provide daily liquidity and transparency of portfolio holdings, and are available globally in Pioneer Investments’ markets where the products are registered.
The U.S. fund launches are being supported by a wide range of new marketing and education material, including a web site (pioneeralts.com), in-depth blue papers, videos, a glossary of terms related to alternative investing, and access to product-specific materials and content. In addition, specially trained Pioneer sales professionals will be working with financial intermediaries to assist them in preparing to educate potential clients on how these new funds might be incorporated as part of a diversified portfolio.
The funds are distributed globally through a wide range of financial advisors in retail and institutional share classes. Not all products are available in all jurisdictions.
Among the funds are Pioneer Absolute Return Bond Fund, well suited to a rising yield environment and the resulting volatility as investors adapt to higher rates. It offers exposure to investment strategies that strives to deliver positive returns uncorrelated to either interest rate or credit cycles, which we believe will be vital in the coming years. The fund aims to preserve capital while generating positive returns in rising or falling markets. Employing the use of Pioneer Investments’ approach to portable alpha, seeking return opportunities through independent decision-making, the fund does not rely on market beta to generate returns.
The fund is co-managed by Tanguy Le Saout, Head of European Fixed Income, and Cosimo Marasciulo, Head of European Government Bonds and FX, who are based in Dublin and supported by the Dublin-based fixed income teams. LeSaout and Marasciulo have been working together for 10 years.
Pioneer Long/Short Global Bond Fund provides exposure through both long and short positions to a broad range of absolute return strategies focused on fixed income and fixed income-related securities, including derivatives, on a global basis. From this diverse set of strategies, the Fund seeks to identify and isolate specific opportunities designed to generate positive, uncorrelated absolute returns. The fund is managed using an absolute return approach, which means that its portfolio is not managed relative to a securities index. The Fund strives to maintain a durationin the range of -3 to +3 years in an effort to minimize interest rate sensitivity.
Pioneer Long/Short Opportunistic Credit Fund is similar to Pioneer Long/Short Global Bond Fund but under normal circumstances the fund’s average portfolio duration will be between -4 and +4 years. This slightly longer duration means that the fund takes on additional risk. The Fund provides exposure to a broad range of alternative strategies that seek positive returns uncorrelated to traditional asset classes. As compared to Pioneer Long/Short Global Bond Fund, Pioneer Long/Short Opportunistic Credit Fund may utilize a broader range of alternative and traditional investment strategies and asset classes in pursuing positive total returns, including exposure to equities or equity-linked securities on a long and short basis.
Both funds are managed by Thomas Swaney, Head of Alternative Fixed Income, U.S. and Benjamin Gord, Portfolio Manager, Alternative Fixed Income, who are supported by Pioneer’s global fixed income team. Tom Swaney and Ben Gord have more than 17 years of combined experience managing alternative strategies.
Photo: Tenisca, Flickr, Creative Commons.. The Crisis in Emerging Markets: What Happens When the Tide Goes Down?
The latest headlines talk of a slowdown in China, strong currency devaluations in Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa, and Turkey, terrorist attacks in Egypt, protests and government crisis in Ukraine … the impression is that emerging markets are in crisis once again. Against this backdrop, “investors sell first and think later,” says Peter Marber, head of emerging investments at Loomis Sayles & Company, whose products are distributed in Spain by Natixis GAM. Just last week, 6.4 billion dollars in equity funds and 2.7 billion dollars of fixed income had fled emerging markets, while repayments have accumulated in recent months.
The change in monetary policy, especially in the U.S, and a return to growth in the developed world seem to be the main catalysts of the crisis, or at least those which have revealed the structural problems of many developing economies. “The tide is moving away from emerging markets. The prospect of the end of cheap money in developed markets, with the certainty of the end of even cheaper money in China, is forcing up the cost of capital in emerging markets. We’ve seen this scenario before: one emerging country after another are left stranded on the shore when the wave recedes. The weaker ones, such as Argentina and Turkey will go first, and will soon be followed by Brazil, Russia and others.” This quote by Dominic Rossi, Global CIO for Equities at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, summarizes what for many marks a turning point in global capital flows: the tide of capital in search of high returns driven by policies of zero interest rates in the West is now receding, revealing major differences between those who have taken advantage of the high period in external financing, and those whose macroeconomic health has deteriorated.
This reduced funding appears inevitable in an environment of monetary standardization and rate increases (which, according to Robert F. Wescott, member of the Macroeconomic Advisory Council for Pioneer Investments, could reach the U.S. by the end of 2014, or, according to other analysts by 2015 – 2016): “the end of rates at 0% will attract more capital to the developed world. Emerging markets must get used to foreign capital flows between 3% and 3.5% of their GDP, as compared to 7% -10% seen in the past,” said Wescott during a recent presentation in Madrid.
That is partly the reason why emerging markets are immersed in the search for a new economic model which is much more about looking inward: “The 1997-2010 models, which focused on export growth, cannot succeed in a world in which the European Union has current account surpluses while the U.S. is rapidly reducing its trade deficit. The world of emerging markets needs to dust off its agenda of structural reforms which it pushed aside 15 years ago and stimulate their domestic economies. Those who do so will avoid the extended period of low growth, and those who don’t will look back on the past 10 years as a Golden Era,” adds Rossi. Therefore, now more than ever, asset management in emerging markets requires greater evaluation, both by country and by securities.
The Core of the problems: Asia or Latin America?
By region, the stakes are focused on Asia: John Ford, CIO for the Asia- Pacific region at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, is of the opinion that “Asian companies are in a relatively strong position to navigate the storm caused by the withdrawal of artificial liquidity by the Fed. The hard lessons learned from the Asian currency crisis in 1997 means that, for the most part, the structural economic problems uncovered by the conclusion of the Fed policy are largely restricted to countries outside the Asia-Pacific region.” At BofA Merrill Lynch, they also reject the idea of a contagion from Argentina or Turkey to the Asian region due to its lower external debt and lower deficits; therefore they don’t expect aggressive rate hikes in the region.
Invest Now?
In the midst of this crisis, there are those who point out the opportunity presented by entering emerging markets due to the attractive valuations and for another reason: McIntyre, a fund manager at Brandy Wine, Legg Mason’s fixed income manager, sees recovery in the developed world (U.S., Europe and Japan) and in China, rather than as a risk factor, as something which will allow the re-growth of emerging economies through trade. And he reminds us that, when you begin withdrawing monetary stimulus, there will still be global accommodative bias in monetary policy, so the liquidity tap will not be fully closed and the capital flows will seek profitability in the emerging markets, which, in his opinion, is where the best opportunities in fixed income will be in 2014, if their volatility can be assumed.
“Brazilian bonds offer 13% return, the Indian rupee has an implicit yield of about 9%, South African bonds exceed 9%, while the Turkish ones reach 10% and Mexican 7.70%, etc. From a historical point of view, the highest performance in emerging market debt is obtained when investing in these markets while they are in crisis,” he says, and the recent price movement constitutes a crisis.
Photo: US Navy. The Hedge Fund Industry Could Reach a Record $3 Trillion by 2014 Year End
The hedge fund industry is predicted to reach a record $3 trillion by 2014 year end -up from $2.6tn as of 2013 year end-, driven by significant inflows, most notably from institutional investors, according to a recent study by Deutsche Bank. This is based on investors’ predictions of $171 billion net inflows and performance-related gains of 7.3% (representing $191 billion).
The bank has released its twelfth annual Alternative Investor Survey, which stands as one of the largest and longest standing hedge fund investor surveys available. This year over 400 investor entities participated, representing over $1.8 trillion in hedge fund assets and over two thirds of the entire market by assets under management (AuM).
Barry Bausano, Co-head of Global Prime Finance at Deutsche Bank, said: “Hedge funds continue to establish their growing position within the broader asset management industry, alongside some of the more mainstream asset managers. The hedge fund industry is predicted to reach a record $3 trillion by 2014 year end driven by significant inflows, most notably from institutional investors.”
According to the survey, commitment from institutional investors continues to strengthen: nearly half of institutional investors increased their hedge fund allocations in 2013, and 57% plan to grow their allocations in 2014. Institutional investors now account for two thirds of industry assets, compared to approximately one third pre-crisis.
Anita Nemes, Global Head of the Hedge Fund Capital Group at Deutsche Bank, said: “With the majority of investors happy with hedge fund performance, we expect institutional investors to further strengthen their commitment to hedge funds. Last year’s respondents targeted 9.2% for their hedge fund portfolios, and hedge funds delivered – the weighted average return for respondents’ hedge fund portfolios this year was 9.3%. Looking forward, respondents are targeting 9.4% for 2014.”
Investors are happy with hedge fund performance: 80% of respondents state that hedge funds performed as expected or better in 2013, after their allocations returned a weighted average of 9.3% in 2013. 63% of respondents, and 79% of institutional investors, are targeting returns of less than 10% for their hedge fund portfolios in 2014. Equity long short and event driven are the most sought after strategies.
About the fee trends, the study says 2 & 20 is not the norm. Investors today pay an average management fee of 1.7%, and an average performance fee of 18.2%. While fees have come down slightly, investors remain willing to pay for performance: almost half of all investors would allocate to a manager with fees in excess of 2&20 where the manager has proven ‘consistent strong performance in absolute terms’.
The industry will have a bigger part of a bigger pie. 39% of investors are now embracing a risk-based approach to asset allocation, up from 25% in 2013. 41% of pension consultants recommend this approach to clients. The risk-based approach effectively removes historical constraints on the percentage allocation to absolute return strategies, allowing equity long/short managers to compete with long only and fixed income absolute return funds within the overall fixed income risk budget.
Conducted by Deutsche Bank’s Global Prime Finance business, the survey identifies trends amongst a growing and evolving hedge fund investor base. Respondents include asset managers, public and private pensions, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, fund of funds, private banks, investment consultants and family offices. Allocators from 29 different countries completed the survey. Approximately half (46%) of responding investors manage $1bn+ in hedge fund AuM, and 18% manage over $5bn.
Photo. Bruno_tak, Flickr, Creative Commons.. Mexico: The Next Brazil?
There is a natural tendency to benchmark Mexico with Brazil. Indeed,Credit Suisse can identify demographic, socioeconomic and political factors capable of driving a steady rise in the middle- income bracket, similar to that seen in Brazil over the last decade with a similar potential impact on the fortunes of the Mexican consumer. However, Credit Suisse says “there are headwinds today that stand in the way of this structural potential”, which are reflected in the cautious near-term measures of optimism.
With a net 25% of consumers expecting an improvement in their financial position in the next six months, Mexico ranks fourth in Credit Suisse’s fourth annual Emerging Consumer Survey – a detailed study profiling consumer sentiment and its drivers across the emerging world. Credit Suisse has again partnered with global market research firm Nielsen to conduct nearly 16,000 face-to-face interviews with consumers across nine economies (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey South Africa and, for the first time, Mexico).
“Interestingly, Mexico scores the lowest in the survey in terms of the number of respondents that perceive their government to be very effective or quite effective at solving problems that relate to the population (17% of the total), which might be an indication that we are in the very early stages of the new administration’s reform agenda and the structural changes proposed in areas such as education and labor markets, among others. A fierce debate on reforms and perhaps some skepticism is natural, although it is still too early to forecast positive results”, says the report.
In terms or sectors, although carbonated drinks (unsurprisingly) have been bought by much of the population over the past 12 months, only 16% plan to do so going forward; categories that look to have stronger growth going forward, however, include smartphones and internet. Spending on cars has been high (29%), but is set to decline next year (10%).
Brazil: Missing a beat
The structural optimism among Brazilians again comes across in the survey, but near-term risks do emerge. Brazilian consumers remain the most upbeat when judged by the balance of respondents who see their personal finances as likely to improve in the next six months.
However, the more immediate perceptions are less bullish. When asked whether it was a good time to make a major purchase, Brazilians were the third most pessimistic in our survey – with a net –10% figure claiming it was a bad time. This would be consistent with the prevailing environment of slower economic growth (2% in 2013), social unrest, higher inflation and lower real income growth. To a large degree, the buoyant nature of the longer-term optimism might be explained by the ongoing low unemployment rate and its broader underpinning of real wage growth.
Unsurprisingly, the actual year-on-year decline in the degree of optimism has been most acute at the lower end of the income spectrum, as evidenced by a 16% and 36% year-on year decrease in confidence in the two lowest income brackets we surveyed. This may be primarily explained by the substantial increase in food inflation during 2013 (5.5% in the last 12 months – the highest level among all the economies surveyed).
With regard to consumption, momentum continues to favor the discretionary end. The following sectors showed the greatest momentum in spending, according to Credit Suisse: smartphones (+17% versus +11% in our 2012 survey), fashion apparel (+10%), computers (+6%), internet access (+5%) and smartphone penetration is still relatively low at 45%, suggesting further ample room for growth.
In general, the survey concludes that the cyclical backdrop is more challenging, but structural optimism is retained. The net percentage of consumers surveyed across the nine countries who believe their financial position will improve relative to those who feel it will deteriorate stands at a net 26% compared to 28% a year ago. The study finds a fall in the number of consumers seeing now as a good time to make a major purchases. For example, in Brazil nearly two- thirds of people regarding now as not a good time to make a major purchase. Anyway, the report says the profile of the emerging consumer differs vastly within and between countries and understanding this fact is key to unearthing relative growth opportunities and identifying risks.
A presentation video outlining the key findings of the survey can be found here. For a copy of the survey, please click here.
Barbara Rupf Bee. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Appoints Barbara Rupf Bee to Lead Distribution in EMEA
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) has announced that Barbara Rupf Bee has joined the firm as Head of Global Client Group EMEA.
Rupf Bee will lead a coverage team responsible for delivering DeAWM’s investment products and services to institutional and retail clients across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She will also join the EMEA region and Global Client Group Executive Committees.
The Global Client Group team in EMEA comprises approximately 400 professionals. Across both asset and wealth management, the EMEA region accounts for approximately EUR 600 billion of DeAWM’s EUR 931 billion of assets under management.
Michele Faissola, Head of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, said: “Barbara is a perfect fit for our global firm. She has extensive experience across the full breadth of our product offering, including traditional and alternative investments, as well as developed and emerging markets. She also has a deep understanding of the needs of both retail and institutional investors. I am delighted to welcome her to the team.”
Based in Frankfurt, Rupf Bee reports to Dario Schiraldi, Head of Global Client Group. She brings almost 30 years’ experience to Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management. She was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Asset Managers Group, a specialist asset manager focused on emerging Europe, Russia and Africa.
Before that she spent approximately 10 years with the HSBC Group. From 2007 to 2012, she served as Global Head of Institutional Sales for HSBC Global Asset Management. Previously she was CEO of HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd, the investment advisor to HSBC’s fund of hedge funds and institutional client portfolios. She began her career in private banking.
Peter Roemer, who previously held the role of Head of Global Client Group EMEA, has decided to leave Deutsche Bank to pursue other opportunities.
