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San Francisco Bay Area the Most Bullish Among Metro Areas in the U.S

A new poll by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management shows that high net worth investors in the San Francisco Bay Area are the most bullish among eight U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed, while those in Atlanta are the least bullish.

The poll, conducted on a national level with a special focus on eight major markets, found broad optimism among high net worth investors around six key sentiment indicators: A majority believe that the 1) global, 2) national and 3) individual state economies will be better or the same at year-end compared with the first three months of 2013.

Investors are even more optimistic about their personal financial prospects, with clear majorities predicting that the 4) investment climate, 5) personal investment portfolios and 6) overall financial well-being also will be better or the same at year-end.

With an over-sample of investors in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, some interesting regional differences emerged:

The most bullish:

In aggregate, San Francisco Bay Area investors were more bullish than the national findings on these six key sentiment indicators by 56 percentage points, followed by Boston (27 percentage points) and Los Angeles (16 percentage points).

The least bullish:

Atlanta was the least bullish in aggregate (19 percentage points below the national average), followed by Houston (minus 12 percentage points) and Chicago (minus 11 percentage points – brought down by poor perceptions of the Illinois economy).

Other regional highlights include:

Boston – Retirees are less satisfied with the results of their investment portfolio, with 48% saying performance is worse than expected, compared with 36% nationally.

New York – Investors in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) are more bullish on prospects for the national economy, with 74% predicting it will be better or the same at year-end, vs. 66% nationally. Prospects for the local economy are seen as even brighter – 81% better or the same.

Atlanta – Investors see less improvement in housing, with only 34% seeing a price increase (vs. 41% nationally), and 31% seeing home prices decrease (vs. 20% nationally).
Fully 64% of those surveyed say foreclosures have affected their neighborhoods, compared with 43% nationally.

Chicago – Investors are by far the most bearish nationally on their state economy, with 58% predicting it will be worse at year-end, compared with 22% nationally. The financial well-being of Illinois was cited as a concern by 93% (80% “very concerned’). Nationally, this was not named as a top concern.

Houston – High net worth investors say energy makes up a fifth of their investment portfolio, with roughly half in oil, a quarter in natural gas, and the rest in “other” (alternative, renewable, etc.) 53% see great potential in natural gas, 47% in oil and 24% in alternative/renewable sources.

Denver – Investors are bullish on housing. Three times as many investors see increases in local housing prices (64%) compared with those seeing decreases (20%).

Los Angeles – Investors are cool to one of the largest local industries – entertainment – with only about a third (32%) seeing it as a “good” opportunity and 46% neutral. The top six favored industry sectors were technology (76% “good”), energy (65%), bio-tech (65%), communications (59%), real estate (58%) and pharmaceutical (58%).

San Francisco – In the home of Silicon Valley, nearly four in 10 HNW investors (37%) say they have put funds into a start-up, but only 23% plan to do so in the next three years. Bay Area investors say innovative ideas are the most important consideration for investing, start-up or not, followed by strong financial backing.

So much for the argument that the US does not make anything anymore

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US markets have decoupled recently from the rest of the world rising much more, especially against Europe. James Swanson, Chief Investment Strategist at MFS, argues in this video that lower manufacturing costs in the US are behind this performance.

“The biggest expense in manufacturing is labor costs”, emphasizes Swanson. “Unit labor costs in the US are very attractive compared to the rest of the world, even China”, he adds. Secondly Swanson refers to energy costs, which in the US are also falling due to the growth in the shale gas industry. “This is also impacting positively in the cost of manufacturing US goods, adding to growth in the GDP through manufactured exports”, explains Swanson.

A good example of this is the ethylene sector. “Costs in this sector have become so much lower in the US that it is now the most competitive producer in the world”.

Blackstone Announces Acquisition of Credit Suisse’s Strategic Partners Business

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Blackstone announced an agreement with Credit Suisse to acquire Strategic Partners, Credit Suisse’s dedicated secondary private equity business with $9 billion in assets under management. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2013. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tony James, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said, “We are thrilled that the people of Strategic Partners are joining Blackstone. Many of us here at Blackstone were once colleagues of the Strategic Partners team, and this gives us high confidence that it will be a seamless cultural fit here at the firm. Strategic Partners complements Blackstone’s existing businesses, and we expect to be able to grow its franchise and help it enter new product areas.”

Alastair Cairns, Co-Head of Credit Suisse’s Legacy Asset Management business, added, “Strategic Partners is a leader in the secondary private equity space. We are pleased to have reached this agreement and are confident that with Blackstone, Strategic Partners will continue to build on its excellent track record.”

The sale is part of Credit Suisse’s strategic divestment plans that were announced on July 18, 2012.

Strategic Partners seeks capital appreciation through the purchase of secondary interests in high quality private equity funds from investors seeking liquidity on a fair, timely and confidential basis. From its start in 2000, it has raised over $11 billion of capital commitments, completed over 700 transactions, and acquired over 1,400 underlying limited partnership interests. Its performance has been top quartile among its peers. Strategic Partners’ team of twenty-six dedicated secondary investment professionals is headed by Stephen Can and Verdun Perry.

Mexico, Colombia and Peru Post Gains for Private Equity & Venture Capital Investors

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The investment climate for private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) in Latin America continued its upward trajectory, with all countries posting positive gains in the 2013 LAVCA Scorecard, released by the Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). The 2013 Scorecard is the eighth edition of the annual ranking and reflects ongoing stability in the regulatory environment across key markets in Latin America.

Both Mexico and Colombia improved their scores as a result of gains on the indicator for entrepreneurship. Latin America has experienced a new generation of start up investing in recent years, and governments in Mexico and Colombia, among other markets, are promoting new programs to support entrepreneurs and venture capital investors.

Peru also saw an important gain in the 2013 Scorecard, with a reform approved last year that lifts restrictions on local pension funds investing in private equity in Peru and internationally. The new regulation reflects a return to a more proactive stance among Peruvian regulators on this issue, and increases the country’s overall score by two points.

There was little change at the top of the rankings, as Chile led the region for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Chile continues to lead on indicators that are generally weak across the rest of Latin America, specifically intellectual property protection, judicial transparency and the perception of corruption, and posted an increased score on accounting standards that put the country’s overall score on par with benchmark nations Taiwan and Spain.

In Brazil, where a new reporting code aimed at fund transparency went into effect, scores remained stable.

“Governments in major Latin American markets recognize the importance of private equity and venture capital for economic development and are responsive to investor demands for streamlined regulation. With record dollars invested in PE and VC in 2012, we are in a virtuous cycle of new investments, while the overall ecosystem continues to evolve”, said Cate Ambrose, President of LAVCA.

In Central America and the Caribbean scores were generally unchanged, though investor interest in the smaller opportunities presented by these markets continues to grow, prompting local governments to consider improvements in their regulatory environment. The Dominican Republic, where a new administration is tackling corruption, increased its score by three points.

Argentina presents the sole obstacle to progress, as the economy continues to deteriorate, and public policy presents a hostile environment for foreign investors. The country hosts a vibrant start up community, but Argentine entrepreneurs are beginning to look elsewhere for funding and partnerships.

Overall Latin America continues its steady path of growth and positive reform, a positive signal for PE/VC firms eager to invest in the region. As reported in 2013 LAVCA Industry Data, last year a record $7.9 billion was deployed in new investments across Latin America.

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Apex makes senior appointment and targets rapid growth in North and South America

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Apex Fund Services, one of the world’s largest independent fund administration companies, announces the appointment of Elliott Brown to the newly created position of Managing Director – Americas. Elliott will have responsibility for overseeing the growth of all of Apex’s offices in North and South America.

Elliott was formerly with JP Morgan for 18 years, most recently as the Managing Director responsible for leading the bank’s global hedge fund administration business. Prior to that role, Elliott was in Strategy and Business Development and was instrumental in the formation of the Hedge Fund and Private Equity Fund Administration businesses at JPMorgan. Elliott also worked for JPMorgan in Australia in Relationship Management and Operations. Elliott is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Securities Institute of Australia.

Apex America has recently opened its new offices on East 52nd Street in New York and already offers office space to emerging fund managers as part of Apex’s Emerging Manager Incubation Service (EMIS) launched in February 2013.

“Attracting high caliber people such as Elliott demonstrates the growing recognition of Apex’s potential around the world. Elliott’s addition to the senior management team ensures that Apex now has the right resources in place ahead of its next phase of aggressive growth. Apex remains fully intent on continuing to shake up the financial services industry by introducing innovative services that are designed to bring efficiencies to fund managers and transparency to investors”, said Peter Hughes, group managing director of Apex Fund Services.

Heyman y Asociados Joins Forces With Franklin Templeton Investments in Mexico

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Heyman y Asociados y Franklin Templeton Investments suman fuerzas en México — By: Felipe Alfonso Castillo Vázquez . Heyman y Asociados Joins Forces With Franklin Templeton Investments in Mexico

Franklin Resources, a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments, today announced that Heyman y Asociados S.C., a leading independent institutional asset manager in Mexico, has agreed to join forces with Franklin Templeton Investments in Mexico, subject to customary closing conditions. Full terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Michel Tulle, senior director for Franklin Templeton Americas stated, “We are excited to be joined by Heyman y Asociados, an established Mexican asset management firm with over 20 years’ experience managing assets on behalf of prominent institutional clients. This transaction permits us to expand significantly our presence in the institutional asset management market in Mexico, and reinforcesour corporate strategy of providing clients with the best investment products in markets such as Mexico, where Mexican asset management experience is important to meeting both global and Mexican investor needs.”

Heyman y Asociados S.C, with managed and advisory assets of approximately USD 1.1 billion as of March 31, 2013, was established in 1985 and specializes in managing pension funds, endowment funds, reserves and treasury funds, for Mexican and multinational corporations, Mexican educational, environmental, healthcare and other non-profit institutions, and for Mexican insurance companies. The team is led by Timothy Heyman, an experienced investment professional with more than three decades in Mexico.

The Heyman team will provide investment management services through Franklin Templeton Servicios de Asesoría Mexico, S. de R.L. de C. V (“FTSAM”), a new institutional investment management subsidiary, of which Timothy Heyman will become CEO. Subject to customary regulatory approval, Mr. Heyman will also become Chairman and a Member of the Board of Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico, S. A. de C.V. (“FTAM”), Franklin Templeton’s mutual fund management company in Mexico.

Franklin Templeton Investments has been present in Mexico for almost 20 years, and its funds have been investing in the country since the early 1980s. In 2005, the company opened its first office in Mexico and its asset management operation, Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico, began operations in 2009.

Timothy Heyman was President of ING Baring Grupo Financiero (México), S.A. de C.V., and of Baring, S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, the first foreign brokerage in Mexico. He has been named Emerging Markets All-Star by Global Finance, and was selected first place for Mexican economic, financial and stock market research by Institutional Investor for three successive years. He is the author of eight best-selling books on Mexican investments, the latest being Inversión en la Globalización and Mexico for the Global Investor. He has a BA from Oxford and an MS in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

“As one of the first global investment management firms to establish local asset management capabilities, we have had an enduring presence in global markets for many years,” said Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Local Asset Management Group. “With the addition of Mexico, the group now has locally managed and distributed products in 11 countriesincluding Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.We believe this first-hand, local investment expertise, combined with shared research from across the globe, gives us unparalleled insights into the markets where we invest.”

Private equity research consortium is formed

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Scholars from a number of universities have created a consortium for research on private equity. The Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) will conduct and promote research on how these private capital investments affect both financial results and broader economic issues.

“Historically, researchers who want to study private equity confront a major barrier: high-quality data”

The consortium is particularly interested in the interaction of scholars and industry professionals to improve data on and understanding of private equity. PERC will be housed at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Its formation was made possible by a generous grant from the UAI Foundation, a non-profit foundation devoted to supporting research in finance.

PERC has named its founding advisory board:

Gregory W. Brown , University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Robert Harris , PERC director and University of Virginia, Darden School of Business
Tim Jenkinson , Oxford University, Said Business School
Steven Kaplan , University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
James Bachman , Burgiss, Director

The advisory board charts the consortium’s research agenda and will review applications from academic researchers for access to data available through the consortium in collaboration with Burgiss. Burgiss provides portfolio management software, data and analytics to asset owners investing in private capital. Its solutions streamline the investment process, provide transparency into portfolio holdings, and enable data-driven decisions.

“Over the last two decades, private equity has grown to become an important part of the investment landscape, yet little is known about the industry. Historically, researchers who want to study private equity confront a major barrier: high-quality data,” said Brown, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar and professor of finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “Our goal is to help remove that barrier.”

“PERC provides a powerful opportunity to bring together scholars and industry professionals with a common goal: a better understanding of private equity’s effects on both financial results and broader economic outcomes,” said Harris, director of PERC and the C. Stewart Sheppard Professor at Darden.

PERC activities include creating research for publication in academic and practitioner journals, developing and testing data, providing access to data for academic researchers, hosting an annual conference of leading academics and industry professionals, and producing short reports on topics of current interest in private equity. This year’s conference will be held Nov. 22, 2013, at UNC-Chapel Hill.

For information about PERC, access to complete and ongoing research projects, and how to apply for access to data available through the consortium, visit this link.

PIMCO Hires Laurent Luccioni as Head of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Management for Europe

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PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, has hired Laurent Luccioni as an Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Management–Europe. In this new role, Luccioni will join PIMCO on April 22nd, and he will be based in the firm’s London office, reporting to Dan Ivascyn, Managing Director and Head of PIMCO’s Mortgage Credit Portfolio Management team. PIMCO manages more than $17 billion in alternative investment strategies including hedge funds and opportunistic private equity strategies.

“PIMCO’s global investment platform, deep real estate and mortgage capabilities and intellectual capital enable us to provide a range of investment opportunities for our clients,” said Mr. Ivascyn. “Laurent is an outstanding investor and leader, and he brings to PIMCO significant experience and knowledge of the commercial real estate investment space in Europe and around the world,” added Mr. Ivascyn.

PIMCO has developed and managed alternative strategies for over a decade, including a range of hedge funds, distressed credit funds and opportunistic strategies. More than 75 investment professionals across the firm contribute to PIMCO’s alternatives efforts, including specialist portfolio managers, credit analysts, product managers, and client facing personnel across our global offices. The firm’s alternatives products benefit from PIMCO’s global resources and risk management platform and are managed by specialized teams experienced in alternatives strategies.

Luccioni will be an Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Management—Europe. He joins PIMCO from MGPA, an independently managed private equity real estate investment advisory company focused on real estate investment in Europe and Asia Pacific. While at MGPA, Mr. Luccioni most recently served as CEO-Europe with responsibility for the firm’s European business, leading a team of 88 people across five offices. Previously he was with Cherokee Investment Partners in Raleigh, North Carolina and London. He began his career as a design and construction engineer. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; a Doctor of Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Ecole Speciale desTravaux Publics, in France

Barclays Announces Senior Management Changes

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Subsequent to Barclays’ publication of the outcomes of its Strategic Review on 12 February, the bank has today announced changes to the senior management within Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth and Investment Management, and Barclays’ business in the Americas which will streamline the leadership in these areas and accelerate execution of the Transform Programme to build the ‘Go-To’ bank, said the bank in a statement.

They follow on from the elimination of the global Retail and Business Banking layer in late 2012, and the integration plans in hand to bring together Barclays Africa and Absa in 2013. The changes will also mean the promotion of new talent to the Executive Committee of Barclays.

Details are as follows:

Corporate and Investment Banking

Eric Bommensath and Tom King are appointed Co-Chief Executives of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) with effect from 1 May 2013
Mr Bommensath and Mr King take on these roles in addition to maintaining their current responsibilities as, respectively, Head of Markets and Head of Investment Banking Division
Mr Bommensath and Mr King will join the Barclays Executive Committee on appointment and report to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins
They will share accountability for the leadership and overall performance of CIB, and ownership of the vision and strategy for this part of Barclays’ business
CIB will be structured around client-focused product sets, in keeping with the strategic growth plan for the Investment Bank published on 12 February. Mr King will have specific responsibility for the Banking^{^[1]} segment, while Mr Bommensath will oversee the Markets^{^[2]} segment.

Rich Ricci, currently Chief Executive of CIB, has decided to retire from Barclays on 30 June 2013, by which time he will have helped to support the establishment of the new leadership team. He will step down from the bank’s Executive Committee on 30 April 2013.

Wealth and Investment Management

Barclays is at an advanced stage in the implementation of Project Gamma and the build out of the wealth platform. This creates an obvious inflection point in the development of the Wealth and Investment Management (WIM) business
The priority going forward will be on working closely with Retail and Business Banking (RBB) and CIB to provide a seamless service to clients as a platform for future growth
Peter Horrell will lead the work on implementation of this priority, and is appointed Interim Chief Executive of Wealth and Investment Management^{^[3]} with effect from 1 May 2013, reporting to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins.

Tom Kalaris, currently Chief Executive, WIM, and Executive Chairman of Barclays in the Americas, has decided to retire from the bank on 30 June 2013, and, in the meantime, will work with Peter Horrell to implement a transition to the new priority. He will step down from the Barclays Executive Committee on 30 April 2013.

Barclays in the Americas

Barclays’ business in the Americas is of critical strategic importance to the bank. Already the largest source of income, outside of the UK, it represents strong growth potential. There is a clear need for even more effective execution of Barclays’ operations in the region in order to capitalise on opportunities presented through greater cross-working and collaboration between our businesses. Additionally, we want to have the strongest possible relationships with our US Regulators. Accordingly:

Skip McGee is appointed Chief Executive, Barclays Americas with effect from 1 May 2013
Mr McGee will join the Barclays Executive Committee on appointment and report to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins
He will be the senior executive in the Americas, with geographic responsibility for all of Barclays’ businesses in the region, including CIB, Barclaycard and Wealth and Investment Management
As the primary public-facing executive in the Americas, he will also lead Barclays’ regulatory engagement for the region
Mr McGee will also continue to lead some of our most valuable client relationships, and he will remain a member of the CIB Executive Committee.

Japan’s excessive easing will benefit Korea and Thailand among other Asian economies

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Emerging Asian currencies, which already appreciated by a large margin versus the JPY shortly after the election of Shinjo Abe as Japan’s prime minister, appreciated even further after BoJ’s announcement on monetary policies, clouding the outlook for economies and assets in the region.

Axa’s IM analysis pinpoints the key recipients of Japanese financial flows in Emerging Asia, i.e., the economies in the region that will potentially benefit from Japan’s excessive easing.

Currently, more than 7% of Japanese bank lending is cross-border lending to emerging Asia, and according to Axa, the trend will most likely accelerate after the BoJ’s unprecedented monetary easing was announced, since interest rate margins are more favorable in Emerging Asia than in Japan.

Japanese portfolio investors primarily favor assets issued by Emerging Asian issuers over other emerging market regions

Axa IM classifies the various economies in Emerging Asia as belonging to one of three different groups depending on the share of domestic lending contributed by Japanese banks. In the first group, they position countries where the share overshoots 10% of total domestic lending, hovering at around 15% (Singapore and Thailand). In the second group, they have countries where the share is between 5% and 10% (Indonesia, Hong Kong and Philippines). And in the third, the share is below 5% (China, Taiwan, India, Korea and Malaysia).

The four economies in the region where credit growth is the most excessive are also the four locations where the share of lending by Japanese banks to total domestic lending is the highest (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand).

Another channel through which Japanese liquidity is finding its way to Emerging Asia is through portfolio investments, which include the purchase of stocks and bonds (sovereign and company debt instruments).

Portfolio investment by Japanese investors to emerging markets has been growing steadily since 2002, from 2.5% of total Japanese portfolio investment abroad in 2002 to 4% in 2011. Japanese portfolio investors primarily favor assets issued by Emerging Asian issuers over other emerging market regions.

Japanese portfolio investors continue to prefer mostly equities in China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, while they prefer debt securities in the Philippines, Korea and Malaysia. In 2011, they began holding more debt securities in Thailand, India, the Philippines and Korea.

Japanese liquidity finds its way to Emerging Asia through Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) as well. Japanese FDIs are particularly large relative to the size of the economy in Singapore and Thailand.

According to Axa’s analysis, Korea and Thailand have the potential to attract more Japanese FDIs, while Singapore and Hong Kong more portfolio investments. Thailand and Singapore will attract more lending from Japanese banks, too. “These findings are further supported by stock valuations, namely the P/Es which signal that these economies are the cheapest in Emerging Asia, as well paving the way to more financial flows from Japan”, concludes the report.