Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management announced the launch of three new hedged equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the db X-trackers platform. The new funds track MSCI hedged equity indexes and provide direct exposure to several important international equity markets, while aiming to protect against fluctuations in value of the U.S. dollar and non-U.S. currencies. db X-trackers offers the most comprehensive suite of hedged equity ETFs in the U.S.
“Hedged equity ETFs have been one of the fastest growing segments of ETFs by assets, and these three new innovative ETFs address this growing demand by providing investors with more complete exposure to investment opportunities in Asia and Europe. Investors now have the ability to manage their currency risk, while capturing the potential growth in these unique slices of the international market,” said Martin Kremenstein, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Americas− Head of Passive Asset Management.
DBAP, which offers exposure to equities in 12 Asian countries, excluding Japan, joins db X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DBJP) to offer complete investment opportunities across developed and emerging Asian markets, where currencies have increasingly fluctuated relative to the U.S. dollar.
The other new ETFs DBEU, which offers broad exposure to the European Union, and DBUK, which provides exposure to equity securities of the United Kingdom, will join existing products db X-trackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity Fund (DBEF) and db X-trackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity Fund (DBGR) to deliver four distinct ways to invest in the European markets while mitigating exposure to fluctuations between the value of the U.S. dollar and non-U.S. currencies.
DBEU, DBUK and DBAP seek investment results that correspond generally to the performance of the MSCI Europe USD Hedged Index, the MSCI United Kingdom USD Hedged Index and the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Index, respectively.
The MSCI hedged equity indexes have empirically generated greater returns year-to-date than their unhedged index counterparts.
With the addition of these three new ETFs, the db X-trackers platform offers eight hedged equity ETFs, including the following:
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s U.S. exchange traded products (ETP) platform includes 58 ETPs, with approximately$12 billion in assets under management. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s ETP platform was launched in 2006 and has risen to become the fifth largest in the world, with approximately $60 billion in assets under management as of September 09, 2013.
For more information about the ETPs available in the U.S., visit: http://www.dbxus.com.
MetLife and Thayer Lodging Group announced that they have acquired the 365-room Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in a joint venture. MetLife and Thayer Lodging Group purchased the luxury resort from Oasis Cabo LLC. The purchase price was not disclosed.
MetLife is the majority investor in the joint venture with Thayer Fund VI.
“MetLife is pleased to add the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort to our portfolio of hotel properties in Mexico,” said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate investments for MetLife. “Our long term investment strategy focuses on attractive opportunities in the U.S. and internationally, as we continue to seek top quality properties in major global markets in 2013. We highly value our relationship with the Thayer Lodging Group and look forward to continuing this partnership in the future.”
Lee Pillsbury, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Thayer Lodging Group, said: “We are happy to partner with MetLife to add this hotel to the Thayer Hotel Investors VI portfolio. Its combination of current high yield and forecasted appreciation make it an excellent investment.”
This is the first acquisition for Thayer outside the U.S. and the second high profile investment with MetLife for the Thayer Fund VI in the last two months. In July, MetLife and Thayer announced their acquisition of the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco from Host Hotels and Resorts, Inc.
Fred Malek, Thayer Lodging chairman, said: “Fund VI remains aggressive in targeting distinctive North American hotel assets. We believe Los Cabos is an outstanding resort and group destination, which will benefit significantly from our value added approach.” He concluded, “Thayer is very pleased to again partner with MetLife in a hotel investment and we look forward to the continuation of this great relationship.”
Northern Trust has appointed Bruce Tang to the Northern Trust Alternatives Group hedge fund of funds team as a research analyst and vice president.
Mr. Tang joins 26 investment professionals on the Northern Trust Alternatives Group fund of funds team. The group develops and manages alternative investment products, including hedge and private equity funds of funds, for institutional and personal clients. The group’s hedge fund of funds products give investors exposure to multiple strategies and seek competitive returns while containing overall portfolio risk. The Northern Trust Alternatives Group has $3.6 billion in assets under management.
“Northern Trust continues to see a growing interest in alternative investments, and we are growing our business to meet that demand,” said Robert Morgan, Managing Director of the Northern Trust Alternatives Group. “Clients and industry observers recognize our group’s success and that has allowed us to attract and retain top talent.”
Tang has more than 14 years of experience and joins Northern Trust from Aurora Investment Management LLC, where he was a senior research analyst on the firm’s investment team. At Aurora, he was responsible for sourcing and monitoring hedge fund investments, providing qualitative and quantitative analysis to the firm’s investment committee. He also conducted due diligence on prospective and existing hedge fund investments across long/short equities, long/short credit, global macro, event-driven, multi-strategy, opportunistic and portfolio hedge strategies.
Additionally, Kristin Norton joins the hedge fund of funds team as a junior research analyst.
Ms. Norton is a recent graduate of Harvard College where she studied East Asian studies and economics. As an undergraduate, Norton interned in Tokyo in Morgan Stanley’s equity research division and Mizuho Venture Capital’s investment research division.
Auerbach Grayson & Company, a New York-based brokerage firm specializing in global trade execution and research for U.S. institutional investors, has announced a partnership with leading investment bank Corredores Asociados, to provide U.S. investors with greater access to Colombia’s capital markets.
Through its exclusive partnership with Corredores Asociados, Auerbach Grayson expects to have more access to Colombian companies than other U.S.-based brokers, while providing its institutional clients with on-the-ground research and increased coverage of investing opportunities throughout Colombia. The partnership also allows Corredores Asociados to expand its institutional equity business by servicing Auerbach Grayson’s clients, including more than 400 of the largest U.S. institutional investors.
“Our recent focus on Colombia is in response to the heightened level of interest and order flows we are seeing from investors looking for exposure to Latin American countries other than Brazil, which comprises the majority of the market capital for the entire continent,” said David Grayson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Auerbach Grayson. “By partnering with Corredores Asociados, we will continue to provide our institutional clients with greater coverage and access to Colombia as we see a great deal of opportunity in this emerging Latin American market.”
Auerbach Grayson built its global coverage network by establishing partnerships with local and regional brokers and banks in over 125 markets worldwide with on-the-ground analysts in every region. The firm provides U.S. institutional investors with trade execution and in-depth local equity research from its local partners.
“Our relationship with Auerbach Grayson will enable Corredores Asociados to build stronger relationships with U.S. institutional investors looking for opportunities in the Colombian market, as well as build greater visibility for Colombian companies that are attractive for investments,” said Roberto Murcia Garcia, Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets at Corredores.
Corredores Asociados was recently acquired by Banco Davivienda, the 3rd largest bank in the country which has large banking operations in Central America. As a subsidiary of Davivienda and part of the Grupo Bolivar, the third largest financial group in Colombia, Corredores Asociados continues to strengthen its position in the market with a solid asset backing, technological and a clear strategic approach.
The mid cap segment offers a different type of company than investors find within the large and small cap “bookends” of the market. According to a White Paper by Robeco, the mid cap asset class is characterized by companies that are more successful and mature than those in the small cap arena, which makes mid caps generally less risky than small caps. At the same time, mid cap firms start from a lower baseline in terms of business volume and are generally more nimble than those in the large cap space, which creates more upside potential. U.S. mid caps also present investors with the opportunity to select companies that have “graduated” from small cap status, indicating that their businesses are moving in the right direction.
On a paper signed by Jeremy Zirin, David Lefkowitz and Matthew Baredes, strategists at UBS FS, US mid-caps are highlighted as “the sweet spot” in the equities market due to “accelerating US growth, greater cyclical exposure, upside margin potential and greater exposure to a recovering US housing market”. UBS thinks that the higher beta, greater cyclical exposure and lower dividend yield (which is a positive in a rising interest rate environment), of the mid-cap asset class are the reasons which are driving its outperformance versus large-caps, adding that “this drivers remain in place and would support further gains versus large caps”.
This asset class, which is often under-represented in investor portfolios, has actually had an outstanding performance during the US market recovery.
This graph by Lipper Insight shows that indeed small-and mid-cap funds did outperform large-cap funds. After the first 12 months of the market recovery, small- and mid-cap funds were starting to pull away from large-cap funds. The graph shows that the underperformance of large-caps versus small- and mid-caps was consistent during the last four-plus years.
Moreover, white paper published by Robeco signals that U.S. mid caps have delivered better returns than small and large caps over time, and they have done so without an inordinate amount of volatility. In fact, mid caps have experienced slightly higher volatility than large caps and less volatility than small caps. As a result, mid caps have not just outperformed, but they have done so with a lower level of risk than the rest of the market.
Another way to look at the relationship between risk and return is the Sharpe ratio, a measure of risk- adjusted performance. On this front, mid caps have displayed a superior risk-return profile than that of both small and large companies when measured over multiple time periods.
The small-cap funds universe is widely represented, with a lot of funds investing in this asset class, but finding funds in themid-cap universe is more complicated. Sometimes they are included in the AllCap rankings, mixed with large and small cap funds, in other lists mid-cap is mixed with small-cap funds, making investment decisions more complicated.
According to Morningstar’s non US domiciled category of mid-cap funds, there are two funds with outstanding performance over a 3 and 5 year period: Robecos’s Robeco US Select Opportunities US Equities, and BNP Paribas’ Parvest Equity USA Mid Cap C, (Robeco’s volatility is lower, though).
Other funds with very good 3 year performance are AllianceBernstein’s AB US Small an Mid-Cap, Franklin Templeton’s Franklin US Small-Mid Cap Growth Acc $, Schroder’s Schroder ISF US Small & Mid Cap Eq I USD Acc and Pioneer Investments’ Pioneer Funds – U.S. Mid Cap Value I USD ND.
You may access Robeco’s White Paper on Mid Cap investing through the attached pdf file, or through this link.
Wikimedia CommonsRaymundo Yu, presidente de Threadneedle Asia Pacifico. Threadneedle incorpora un reputado equipo de renta variable asiática a su franquicia en Singapur
Threadneedle Investments announces the appointment of Soo Nam Ng as Head of Asian Equities (Asia), along with four additional prominent hires adding significantly to the firm’s capabilities in the region. All five members of the new team have worked together during their careers. Bernard Lim joins as Senior Fund Manager, Asia Pacific ex Japan; Christine Seng as Fund Manager, Singapore and Australia; Weixiong Liang as Analyst and Wee Jia Low as Senior Associate. They will be based in Threadneedle’s Singapore office.
The new team will work closely with Threadneedle’s long-standing Asian Equities team of seven headed by Vanessa Donegan, which currently manages £3.6bn out of London and Singapore (as at 31 August 2013). The Singapore-based team will focus on further building the firm’s offering for Asian investors.
Soo Nam Ng reports to Leigh Harrison, Head of Equities at Threadneedle. Bernard Lim, Christine Seng, Weixiong Liang and Wee Jia Low report to Soo Nam.
Mr Mark Burgess, Threadneedle’s Chief Investment Officer commented: “We have a strong team-based approach at Threadneedle, with a culture of open discussion, debate and sharing of ideas to give us a global perspective advantage”.
Soo Nam Ng joins Threadneedle from Nikko Asset Management where he was Chief Investment Officer and he managed a team of more than 20 investment professionals including equity and fixed income specialists. Soo Nam is a veteran in the fund management industry, having spent more than 18 years focusing on Asia Pacific ex Japan equity markets and is an award-winning portfolio manager.
Bernard Lim joins Threadneedle from Fullerton Fund Management where he was Senior Vice President, Equities, with responsibility for the firm’s Asia Focus mandates. He was also country specialist for Hong Kong, and covered the technology and energy sectors. Bernard brings 20 years investment experience to Threadneedle.
Christine Seng joins Threadneedle from Nikko Asset Management where she was a Portfolio Manager and was responsible for an award winning dividend yield fund. Christine has been in the fund management industry for the last 14 years.
Weixiong Liang joins Threadneedle from Nikko Asset Management where he was a Portfolio Manager.
Wee Jia Low joins Threadneedle from Nikko Asset Management where he was an Equity Analyst.
Photo: Taxiarchos228. Google, EY and Goldman Sachs, the World's Most Attractive Employers 2013
Universum Global reveals the list of organizations that have a competitive edge in employer reputation. Close to 200,000 business and engineering students from top universities weighed in on what companies and employer characteristics they find most attractive. As in the last four years, the 2013 rankings are compiled from student surveys in the world’s 12 largest economies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and USA.
The 2013 business ranking shows fierce competition between the professional services, investment banking and fast moving consumer goods industries. KPMG, last year’s second place contender, has dropped six places to be replaced by EY (Ernst & Young), which climbed four slots.
“The reason why these employers are seen as being attractive is due to their strong association to attributes that students consider important, such as market success, professional training and development and providing secure employment. This might come as a surprise as there is a view of Gen Y valuing more corporate social responsibility, a friendly work environment and flexible working conditions,” said Petter Nylander, Universum’s CEO.
The organizations in the top ten on the engineering list have remained fairly stable compared to last year. Employers in the computer & software space are vying for the top spot, which has been Google’s home for five years, while Microsoft (no. 2) replaces IBM (no. 3) in second place. Employers in this sector are highly associated with innovation and exciting products and services – two attributes that are very important to engineers. Below is the top ten of the world’s fifty most attractive employers
The Dreyfus Corporation, a BNY Mellon company, announced that it has introduced the Dreyfus Floating Rate Income Fund, an actively managed mutual fund designed to seek high current income by investing in floating rate loans and other floating rate securities. The fund is sub-advised by Alcentra NY, LLC, a BNY Mellon global investment firm specializing in sub-investment grade credit. Dreyfus is the fund’s investment advisor.
“Floating rate loans could be attractive to investors seeking an asset class with lower interest rate sensitivity, seniority in a company’s capital structure and diversification potential as floating rate loans generally exhibit low correlation to other asset classes,” said Dreyfus President Charles Cardona. “The loan market has traditionally catered to large, institutional investors. The new fund provides access to a broad range of investments not generally available to individual investors. We’re pleased to provide U.S. investors access to the investment expertise of Alcentra, one of the top global loan managers.”
William Lemberg and Chris Barris are the fund’s primary portfolio managers. Lemberg is the fund’s portfolio manager principally responsible for floating rate loans and other floating rate securities. He is a managing director, senior portfolio manager and head of Alcentra’s U.S. loan platform. Lemberg has been employed by Alcentra since 2008. Barris is also the fund’s portfolio manager principally responsible for high yield, fixed-rate securities. He is a managing director, senior portfolio manager and head of global high yield at Alcentra. Barris has also been a senior portfolio manager for the Dreyfus High Yield Fund since 2007.
Alcentra employs a value-oriented, bottom up research process that incorporates a macroeconomic overlay to analyze investment opportunities. This includes evaluating default trends, performance drivers and capital market liquidity. Alcentra’s fundamental credit analysis identifies favorable and unfavorable risk/reward opportunities across sectors, industries and structures while seeking to mitigate credit risk.
“We seek to reduce credit risk through a disciplined approach to the credit investment selection and evaluation process,” said David Forbes-Nixon, Alcentra’s Chairman and CEO. “Long term investors, who are looking for consistent returns and anticipating a rising rate environment, may want to consider the Dreyfus Floating Rate Income Fund. The fund seeks to deliver current income, enhanced principal protection and capital appreciation potential.”
To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in floating rate loans and other floating rate securities. These investments, may include: (1) senior secured loans, (2) second lien loans, senior unsecured loans and subordinated loans, (3) senior and subordinated corporate debt obligations (such as bonds, debentures, notes and commercial paper), (4) debt obligations issued by U.S and foreign governments, their agencies and instrumentalities, and debt obligations issued by central banks, and (5) fixed-rate loans or debt obligations with respect to which the fund has entered into derivative instruments to effectively convert the fixed-rate interest payments into floating rate interest payments. The fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in the securities of foreign issuers and up to 20% of its net assets in high yield instruments.
Manuel García-Durán, presidente y consejero delegado de Ezentis.. "An Investment is Like a Movie and Ezentis is a Great, Well-Told Story”
When talking with Manuel García-Durán, president and CEO of Ezentis, the pride of a manager who in just two years has managed to lead the company to become one of the most talked about turnaround stories in the Spanish market, is evident. Since taking over the firm’s reins on September 22 nd, 2011, the company’s figures have taken a 180 degree turn, and have revealed a story of courage coupled with experience. After bringing forth an Ezentis focused on the business of water, electricity, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, very oriented to Latin America, with a healthy balance sheet, a committed management team, and the ability to maintain a growth plan, both organic and inorganic, he is confident that investors around the world may find his story interesting.
“There are great opportunities for investors from all over the world, both Latin and North American or European, and both retail and institutional,” he explains. And with different risk profiles also: “For the first time, Ezentis may have a niche in portfolios with a varied risk profile, from the least to the mostconservative.” He specifically stresses the case of Premaat, one of his last institutional investors, a benefit society of surveyors and architects in Spain which has a very conservative profile and remembers their milestone of the capital increase undertaken in January this year, which netted them nearly 14 million Euros.
And all, despite the volatility which those securities have suffered in the past. For now, the president believes that this year will consolidate those securities and faces 2014 with confidence, with the ultimate goal of building a stable medium-term shareholder base. Something which he believes he will achieve to the extent that the company gains visibility: Ezentis ended the semester with a record portfolio of 288 million Euros, a level similar to that contracted throughout 2012, and has a year and a half of guaranteed returns, something which is valued highly by the more conservative investors.
With this conviction of their ability to deliver value, the company will start the last quarter with a roadshow to try to attract potential investors in Latin America, where he plans to meet with about 40 investors, from local family offices to venture capital funds and which work with mid-cap technology companies.
Duplicate their Price
García-Durán does not rule out that this turnaround story may double the price of their shares from their current levels, as indicated by some analyst reports: “It would be reasonable. We have been meeting the milestones and giving evidence which lays the foundations of trust, but perception is what will drive up the share price now. There is still a fragile market but the value will tend to grow based on the good results. There’s no hurry and we understand that investors have reservations about the past, but it is more difficult to change reality than perception and we have already achieved that first part,” he says. For Garcia-Duran, an investment is like a good movie: you need a good story but you also need good direction and actors, because a good story told wrong can be bad. “We are a well-told good story and that is what the investor is looking for: companies with credible stories, which are true, executable, easy to explain and which honor their commitments,” he adds.
A Commitment to Growth
Duran’s commitment is precisely to “strictly” comply with all the steps contemplated in his strategic plan ending in 2015, and which involves inorganic growth in markets such as Mexico, Colombia and in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo before the end of 2013. Ezentis, already present in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Panama and Jamaica, recently expanded its presence in Chile (after buying 45% of the Chilean company RDTC-of which it already owned 50% of the capital) and entered into the Brazilian marketby acquiring 60% of the Brazilian company SUL. And, the president does not rule out going into more markets in the future.
In terms of organic growth, the plan includes the renewal of their contracts in Chile (after doing the same in other markets such as Argentina) and growth in the electrical segment in Brazil, a country which he defines as “a continent within a continent”, and in which the development of infrastructure in the electricity and telecommunications sectors will be key for the future. “You can’t be a leading player in the region without being in Brazil. Its economy has uncertainties but the history of infrastructures is not negotiable. There are no politicians who do not question the failure to grow in basic infrastructure,” he says. This is a sector in which Ezentis seeks to position itself as a partner of the large telecommunications or energy companies in a highly fragmented market.
Firmly committed to Latin America
In fact, the company is firmly committed to Latin America: if in the first half of the year, 92% of its turnover came from that region, the company forecasts that over 90% of the estimated turnover in late 2015 (around 400 million Euros ) will also come from that region. “Latin America is in its best historical moment for growth and for generating wealth transversally,” says Garcia-Duran, noting that at the level of economic growth there is currently more uncertainty in Europe and pointing out the “unstoppable race to generate basic infrastructure,” a story which involves Ezentis.
The obverse and the reverse
But when Garcia-Duran took over the management of the company, it was not the only story in which he participated. His legacy was that of a company involved in shareholdings’ wars, in a complicated situation, and an amalgam of unrelated businesses which the president defines as a real “chaos”. Duran could see the “real value” of several companies which Ezentis had in Latin America, and which he considered “crown jewels”, and the possibility of good management of its assets and liabilities. Thus, after paying several debts and dealing with creditors, he conducted a process for the sale of non-core businesses to focus on their core business, which also helped to stabilize the company and reduce the ratio of debt to EBITDA, from 15 times, down to their current rate which stands at around 2.
A restructuring process which ended last August with the completion of the debt restructuring, and also with the total sale of Amper and after changing their participation in Vertex to non-strategic. Another milestone achieved was the creation of a team in which the first shareholders are company executives, which works in favor of consolidating their confidence in both their project and reputation.
Photo: N.V. Deremer. Goldman Sachs AM to Acquire Stable Value Business from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has entered into an agreement with Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) to acquire DeAWM’s stable value* business, with total assets under supervision of $21.6 billion as of June 30, 2013. The transaction represents the latest step by GSAM to grow its defined contribution (DC) franchise following last year’s acquisition of Dwight Asset Management, a premier stable value asset manager based in Burlington, VT.
This transaction follows GSAM’s July 2013 announcement of its intent to establish a new stable value collective trust. As part of this transaction, John Axtell, DeAWM’s Head of Stable Value, and other key members of the DeAWM stable value management team will join GSAM.
Prior to the closing, DeAWM will be working with clients to ensure a seamless transition to GSAM or other stable value managers. GSAM currently manages over $55 billion in defined contribution mandates, including more than $34 billion in stable value assets under supervision.
Subject to certain conditions, the transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2014.
