The New York office of Hines, announced on Tuesday that a subsidiary of the Hines U.S. Core Office Fund (Core Fund) closed on the sale of 499 Park Avenue to an institutional fund managed by American Realty Advisors. The Core Fund also closed on the sale of 425 Lexington Avenueto institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Exact sale prices of each building were not disclosed; however, the combined sale price totaled more than $1 billion, generating a sizeable return on investment for the Core Fund and its investors.
Tommy Craig, senior managing director of Hines’ New York Office, said, “We are pleased to expand our relationship with American Realty Advisors, and to continue our long-standing global relationship with J.P. Morgan. We will continue to build on our high level of activity in New York with further investment and development opportunities.”
499 Park, located at 59thStreet and Park Avenue, is one of the city’s premier boutique office buildings. The 28-story, 300,000-square-foot tower was designed by I.M. Pei & Partners and completed in 1980.
425 Lexington is a 31-story, 750,000-square-foot office building designed by Murphy/Jahn. The property has enjoyed 100 percent occupancy since its development in 1987, and the original anchor tenants, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and CIBC, continue to occupy the building.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets has approximately $66.7 billion in assets under management and more than 400 professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia, as of March 31, 2013. AmericanRealty is an investment advisor, and a leading provider of real estate investment management services to institutional investors. With over $5.3 billion in assets under management, American has provided real estate investment management services to institutional investors for over 25 years utilizing core and value-added commingled funds and separate accounts. Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. With offices in 113 cities in 18 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $24.3 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world.
BNY Mellon has received licence approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for its new dedicated Hong Kong-based subsidiary to establish a separately managed accounts business. The new subsidiary will introduce a separately managed accounts platform, which will be the first of its kind in Asia, and is expected to be launched later this year. It is being specifically designed with Asian investors in mind and will be offered to a select group of private banks and other leading wealth management providers to enable them to better serve their high-net-worth individual clients.
“Separately managed accounts are a very effective way for professional wealth managers to deliver fully transparent, customized portfolios to their clients,” notes AJ Harper, President and Chief Executive Officer of the new Hong Kong managed accounts subsidiary for BNY Mellon. “They provide individual investors access to investment portfolios which have previously been beyond their reach, and traditionally only available to institutional investors at high minimum thresh-holds.”
“What will make our platform so unique to Asia-Pacific is that it will be the first open architecture offering that provides multi-manager and multi-currency portfolios at an entry level of less than US$1 million per portfolio. By participating in our new platform, wealth managers will be able to offer customized investment solutions to their clients.”
“We are making significant investments in Asia-Pacific to meet needs of individual and institutional investors in the region,” adds Steve Lackey, Asia-Pacific Chairman, BNY Mellon. “The introduction of our new managed accounts business is a prime example of this long term commitment and how we are drawing from our global investment management and investment services expertise to deliver innovative solutions, specifically designed with the Asian investor in mind.”
Wikimedia CommonsSede de Julius Baer. Integration of Merrill Lynch’s IWM Business into Julius Baer Moving Ahead Swiftly
Julius Baer announces that the transfer of the UK, Spain and Israel businesses of Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management (IWM) started monday. This step represents another major milestone in the two-year integration process and will make Julius Baer one of the largest private banks in London. The UK is now the last of the big businesses to transfer. The integration of the new businesses is moving ahead swiftly and in line with the original plans.
Through the transfer of Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management business in the UK to Julius Baer, the Bank is moving from a niche player to one of the largest private banks in London City. In Spain, Julius Baer will gain a new foothold with a significant franchise in the local wealth management market, and in Israel the Bank will strengthen its presence in the local wealth management market.
Boris F.J. Collardi, Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer Group, said: “Representing more than a quarter of IWM’s entire business in scope, the integration of the UK business is crucial to the transaction. The UK will be one of the biggest markets by client base outside Switzerland, thus being a key market for Julius Baer overall. In addition Spain and Israel will further enhance our footprint in the global private banking landscape.”
IWM’s financial advisers have transferred in all locations on 1 July 2013. Client relationships and related assets under management of the respective businesses will transfer to the Julius Baer platforms in stages and in line with appropriate regulations in the various jurisdictions. The process for these markets is expected to be completed by mid-2014.
All major locations have now reached transition phase
So far the businesses located in Switzerland, Uruguay, Chile, Luxembourg, Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Spain and Israel have started the transfer process and are moving ahead as planned. The next businesses to transfer, expected to occur in September and October, are in Bahrain, Lebanon and the UAE. The preparations for these transfers are well under way.
IWM is an excellent strategic fit for Julius Baer, strengthening the Group’s presence in key growth markets around the globe and significantly enlarging its asset base. The integration phase which was launched in February 2013 is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015, with the large majority of the assets under management targeted to be transferred in 2013.
ORIX, announce earlier than expected, that the acquisition of Robeco has been completed. ORIX has acquired approximately 90.01% of the equity in Robeco from Rabobank. The total sale price as a result of adjustment to reflect Robeco’s most recent financial position was 1,937 million EUR (2.500 million USD).
As a well-managed and relatively autonomous group of businesses with a good performance and track record, Robeco is a strategically important vehicle for ORIX to pursue its growth ambitions in global asset management. One of ORIX’s and Robeco’s priorities will be to further develop the growth opportunities which exist in pension and asset management markets in Asia and the Middle East, where ORIX has an established network. As well as working together to further improve Robeco’s corporate value, ORIX and Rabobank also will consider joint expansion in new business fields as strategic partners.
ORIX is committed to support Robeco’s strategy, its services to clients, its investment processes and teams, based on Robeco’s long term commitment to deliver value to clients. Robeco’s management board will remain in their current roles with Roderick Munsters continuing as CEO. Robeco will report to ORIX headquarters in Tokyo.
Wikimedia CommonsBy Fernando García Redondo . Arcano Asset Management Appoints José Luis del Río as its New CEO
As reported by the Spanish newspaper, Expansión, the independent advisory company, Arcano, has just recently appointedJosé Luis del Ríoas the new CEO of its asset management division,Arcano Asset Management.
Del Rio shall head the creation, development, and management of investment products for institutional clients in collaboration with Ignacio Sarria, Manuel Mendivil, Pedro Hamparzoumian and Yuliya Kaspler, all partners in this division of Arcano, one of the largest Spanish venture capital management companies, with more than 2,500 million Euros of assets under management and advisory.
During 2011 and 2012, Del Rio was CEO for online supermarket Tudespensa.com, and was responsible for its commissioning and launch.
He was a founding partner of N+1 in 2001 and a managing partner since then until 2011. As the partner in charge of the management activities of Group N +1, he has been president and CEO of N+1 Wealth Advisory, N+1 Asset Management and of Apeiron Gestión Alternativa. Additionally, he has been partner in charge of Capital Markets, FIG and of the Strategic Clients Division.
Previously, he had worked for two years at UBS as director of its Entrepreneurs Division.
Between 1990 and 1999 he worked in the Investment Banking department of AB Asesores, where he was Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and of the Capital Markets department. Once AB Asesores was acquired by Morgan Stanley, he was director of ECM. Del Rio has a degree in Business Administration and Law from ICADE (E-3).
Arcano has offices in Madrid, Barcelona and New York, and three specialized areas: Investment Banking, Asset Management and Multifamily Office. It has a team comprised by a staff of over 70 professionals.
Wikimedia CommonsJed Koenigsberg, director de Producto de MFS. "EMD Asset Class Represents Attractive Opportunity, Fundamentals Are Solid"
Jed Koenigsberg, Director – Investment Product, MFS Investment Management, addresses recent emerging markets debt volatility and MFS’ outlook for the asset class over the long-term.
Wikimedia CommonsÓscar Franco. Oscar Franco Steps Down as Amafore President
After five years at the helm of Amafore (the Mexican Association of Afores or pension funds) Oscar Franco, decided to step down from his post. The new CEO will be announced in due course, as the association said through a statement.
Amafore’s board of directors, consisting of all the CEOs of member companies, announced on Thursday that, starting next July 1st, the Amafore Executive Committee shall be temporarily in charge of the association’s presidency, replacing Franco, who resigned from the post to pursue “new personal projects”.
Tonatiuh Rodriguez, vice president and spokesman for the organization pointed out “Franco’s outstanding performance during the five years he spent as head of the Association. His commitment and professionalism were fundamental for the cohesion and unity of the sector and for the development of major initiatives, including the promotion of financial literacy for the benefit of millions of workers”.
Rodriguez added that the new CEO will be appointed shortly. “We are looking at various options and shall base our decision on the candidate who best meets the expectations of the members, especially as regards facing the enormous challenges in the coming years. For now, the Vice-Chairmen shall take over the interim management to ensure continuity of the programs and activities already underway,” he explained.
Wikimedia CommonsBy Freepenguin. Bestinver Opens its New Office in London, Headed by Francisco Garcia Paramés
Within its international expansion, Bestinver has decided to open a commercial analysis office in London, which during the next two years shall be managed personally by Francisco Garcia Paramés, who shall focus most of his time in analysis activities, according to a statement issued by the company.
This new office is an addition to the two investment analysis centers which currently operate in Madrid and Shanghai, the company stated.
“This decision will allow us to be closer to the companies where we mainly invest, and generally improve our access to information on companies that are, or that may be the target of our investments. London is the main financial and investment center in Europe and we feel confident that that fact will help us in our business as investors, now that 80% of the wealth managed by the Bestinver Group is invested in European companies,” reads the statement.
Beltran Parages, Bestinver’s commercial director, points out that from a business point of view, this decision is a further step in its strategy to diversify the origin of the money under management. The result of this strategy, which began four years ago, is that currently more than a third of all wealth under management is of international origin, ensuring greater stability in their investments thanks to the geographic diversification of its investors.
Wikimedia CommonsFelipe Rojas. The Best Manager in Latin America Leaves his Fund
Felipe Rojas, the only Latino in Citywire’s global list of top 1000 ranking mutual fund managers, has made the decision to quit managing his fund, a step which he will take within a month, as he personally explained to Funds Society.
Within approximately thirty days the star manager will step down from the administration of the investment fund “Cruz del Sur Fondo de Inversión Deuda Latam” and will devote his time to advising and to the practice of outdoor sports, another of his passions.
Rojas, who explained that the decision comes after Southern Cross was acquired by Security, a Chilean group, said that just as in many other acquisitions, the new owners have changed some practices, which in this case also included changes to analysis and fund management. At this point, Rojas concluded that it was best to continue their separate ways.
Nevertheless, he admits he is open to consider “alternatives to be able to contribute to asset management”, so surely we’ll soon see him back in the world of management.
Wikimedia CommonsBy Jaume Meneses. BPA Acquires Inversis, Winning its Bid Against Andbank
On Friday, Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), through Banco Madrid, has managed to beat its main rival Andbank in the bid for the bank Inversis when it submitted a bid higher than the other bank, which is also from Andorra. Banco de Madrid has closed the operation at about 212 million Euros.
This week, both companies staged a battle to seize the Spanish institution, continually increasing their offers in order to win the bid. In the end, BPA has taken the upper hand and beat its major rival with an offer that far exceeds the 150 million Euros which were expected at the start of the auction.
Inversis shareholders, including Bankia, Sabadell, Indra, Cajamar, El Corte Ingles, Telefonica and Banca March have thus benefited from the duel staged by the Andorran banks. The Inversis board of directors signed off the sale to BPA this afternoon in Madrid, thus closing the chapter starring the two institutions.
Meanwhile, Banco Sabadell, with 15.15% of Inversis, informed the CNMV(Spain’s national stock market regulator) on Friday of the signing of a sales contract for the price of 32.3 million Euros. The closing of the transaction is subject to the granting of the necessary regulatory approvals. For Banco Sabadell, the operation represents an approximate net gain of 18.9 million Euros.
The same contract of sale has also been signed by other shareholders, which altogether make up for a transfer of 92.93% of Banco Inversis’ share capital for a price which represents a valuation of Bank Inversis of 208.9 million Euros.
