Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Sparkx 11. La escasez de talento es la mayor amenaza para el crecimiento del sector financiero, según PwC
Research from PwC has found that FS CEOs view talent shortages as the biggest threat to growth. The report, Seizing back the people agenda, also suggests that current models for people management are unsustainable in the face of new market realities and that rebuilding trust and re-engagement with employees and customers is needed.
Findings include:
A combination of technology, new capital demands and the economic situation are transforming customer expectations and making once-profitable areas of business unviable.
More than 80 percent of financial services leaders see over-regulation as a threat to growth while more than half are concerned about the shift in customer spending and behavior.
Half of financial services CEOs believe that a lack of trust in the industry is holding back growth.
Rebuilding trust with disenchanted customers is going to be vital in order to strengthen customer loyalty, retention and growth – the number one strategic priority for industry leaders.
Re-engaging with customers is going to be extremely difficult without re-engaging with employees and the challenge is heightened by the extent to which trust between employers and employees in the industry has been shaken by retrenchment and organizational upheaval.
Significant changes required in organization culture, including demonstrating and reinforcing the right behaviors across all front and back office functions and geographies.
Bhushan Sethi, PwC’s financial services people & change practice leader said: “Rather than actively shaping the people strategies that financial institutions need to move the business forward, many are reacting to immediate pressures. But the upheaval in the marketplace and challenge of re-engaging with customers and staff are making the need to regain control of the people agenda ever more pressing. To get their people strategy onto the front foot, executives need to know what the new objectives for the business are and what people strategy components are needed to support and deliver them.”
Limited availability of skills are biggest threat to growth
Sethi continued, “Addressing these questions will make sure businesses are more likely to have the right people, with the right skills and motivation to contend with the new market realities and take the business forward. Underpinning this will be a clear statement of why people would want to work for the business, which is capable of attracting and retaining talent without simply relying on pay.”
Rebuilding reputation
There is significant disillusionment with the financial services industry. For many people in the industry, this antagonism has created a ‘them and us’ mentality that is suspicious of change and reluctant to re-engage with those from outside.
The reputation of the industry is also making it difficult to attract talent. A global PwC survey of college leavers coming into the workforce found that more than 20 percent would no longer even consider a career in financial services because of its image. Jobs with meaning and interest are a key attraction for this millennial generation.
A new employee value proposition
A considerable amount of the employee value proposition within financial services has been built around financial reward. But the sharp falls in returns since the financial crisis mean that there simply aren’t the funds to sustain the old levels of compensation. Nonetheless, more than 70 percent of financial services CEOs say that they have to match the pay of peers to retain top talent. These pay pressures need to be balanced with the returns to satisfy shareholders and fund investment for growth.
Further strains are coming from stakeholder pressures being put on how organizations set rewards – nearly 40 percent of financial services CEOs are changing the way they set executive reward in response to shareholder and public reaction. These demands are leading to a huge and complex overhaul of reward policies, with significant implications for the balance of fixed, variable and deferred pay and the governance, communication and employee engagement procedures that surround this. Supporting the organizational reputation by requiring employees to live up to expectations on behavior and accountability should be a key aspect of the reward package.
“A culture of integrity, customer focus and risk-awareness is critical in re-engaging with customers and rebuilding confidence in the industry. There are clear competitive advantages for getting this right including better targeting of products, stronger reputation and more effective retention of key people,” Sethi remarked.
He added, “Pay is still important, but not at the expense of everything else. There needs to be a more viable balance between risk and capital demands, employee reward and the returns needed to attract investment and fund future growth.”
Wikimedia CommonsClaude Monet. BBVA Compass y Christie´s anuncian una alianza
BBVA Compass announced a new partnership with Christie’s that combines the bank’s financial capabilities with the auction house’s expertise in collectible assets — and will bring rarely seen pieces of art to the bank’s clients in a series of exclusive events.
“We’re a bank that appreciates the importance of art, indeed the value of art, and many of our clients do as well,” said Manolo Sanchez , BBVA Compass president and CEO. “This new relationship is our way of bringing Christie’s expertise to them in a useful and sophisticated way.”
To kick off the partnership, BBVA Compass and Christie’s will co-host a private event in Dallas this evening that will feature paintings by Claude Monet , Camille Pissarro , Berthe Morisot and remarks by Pissarro expert Dr. Richard Brettell . Until now, the works have been held in private collections. They’ll be up for auction in May and could again disappear from public view.
The relationship between Christie’s and BBVA Compass, a subsidiary of Spain-based BBVA Group, draws synergies from the similar hallmarks of each: international reach and client service. For its part, BBVA has a strong presence from Mexico to Argentina.
“This new relationship brings together two organizations with a global presence and exceptional client service,” said Stephen Lash , chairman emeritus of Christie’s. “While our initial work together will begin in the U.S., there is clearly an opportunity to work together in Mexico, Latin America and beyond.”
The partnership will be especially useful to the bank’s clients who need financial advice on managing “treasure assets,” such as fine art, antiques, wine, classic cars and jewelry. A recent report by Deloitte found that wealthy individuals hold an average of 9.6 percent of their total net worth in such assets, which require precise documentation for insurance purposes and estate planning.
“This new partnership will enable our organization to more broadly serve our clients by directly leveraging Christie’s subject matter experts,” said Bill Helms , head of Wealth Management at BBVA Compass, referring to Christie’s experts in more than 40 categories of collectible assets. “It’s our responsibility to provide clients with the best advice possible and that’s a solemn trust our Wealth Managers have dedicated their careers to providing.”
As part of its commitment to supporting the arts, BBVA Compass recently provided funding for the “Chagall: Beyond Color” exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. The bank has also sponsored other high-profile exhibitions, including one at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that featured the largest collection of art ever to leave Spain‘s Prado museum.
About BBVA Compass
BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 708 branches, including 367 in Texas, 93 in Alabama, 79 in Arizona, 65 in California, 45 in Florida, 38 in Colorado and 21 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 20 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading Small Business Administration lenders and ranked third in American Banker’s 2012 reputation study of the leading 30 banks in the U.S.
Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Mauricio Mercer (Curitiba, Brasil)
. Ashmore registra su fondo de deuda turca y el de equity brasileño en Luxemburgo
Ashmore Investment Management Limited (“Ashmore”), one of the world’s largest specialist managers of Emerging Market (“EM”) debt and equity securities, with assets under management of US$77.7billion* today announced that its Turkish Debt Fund and Brasil Equity Fund have been registered as SICAVs. The funds will now be available to institutional and retail investors.
The Ashmore Turkish Debt Fund targets total return through active management of a diversified portfolio of Turkish debt and other instruments. The fund invests primarily in Turkish local currency sovereign bonds, supplemented by corporate debt.
The Ashmore Brasil Equity Fund is an actively managed long only fund investing in Brazilian equities and equity-linked instruments. It aims to outperform the MSCI Brazil index by adopting an active management style that combines dynamic allocation via bottom-up stock picking approach, which is complemented by Ashmore Group’s top-down views. Allocation is focused on liquid stocks although less liquid names may be added to the portfolio where the investment case is compelling.
Both Turkey and Brazil offer interesting opportunities for investors.
Turkey’s attractive public debt to GDP ratio compares well to the fundamentals of the HIDCs (“Heavily Indebted Developed Countries”). Furthermore, developing corporate bond markets offer opportunities for yield enhancement.
Brazil’s ongoing infrastructure investment plan, together with strong domestic consumption driven by the secular growth of the middle class offers attractive opportunities.
Both funds will continue to provide long term capital growth and remain available to institutional investors.
Commenting on the announcement, Christoph Hofmann, Ashmore’s Global Head of Distribution said:
“Ashmore has a 20 year track record of investing in Emerging Markets. The Turkish Debt Fund and Brasil Equity Fund were previously available in other jurisdictions. Our decision to redomicile these funds to our Luxembourg SICAV is part of our ongoing strategy to make our funds available through easily accessible vehicles. There are exciting investment opportunities in Turkey and Brazil and the SICAV funds bring our expertise in EM to a broader audience.
“The fund broadens the range of Ashmore’s Emerging Markets SICAV product offering which includes debt and equity themes, now available to investors through Ashmore’s comprehensive Luxembourg SICAV platform.”
The two SICAV Funds are open-ended, UCITS IV Luxembourg registered funds, offering daily dealing. They are registered for sale in Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK and available in share class denominations in US dollars, Euros, UK sterling and other currencies.
Wikimedia CommonsJaime Pérez-Maura y Cristina Benavides. Foto cedida por Allfunds Bank. Allfunds Bank nombra a Jaime Pérez-Maura director de Desarrollo de Negocio
Allfunds Bank has appointed Jaime Pérez-Maura as the new Business Development & Sales Planning Director. In this new role, he will be responsible for the development of new business in Europe and Far East, managing global key accounts. Jaime will now report to Gianluca Renzini, Chief Commercial Officer at Allfunds Bank.
Communication and Market Intelligence responsibilities will remain under his supervision, but will no longer be involved in the Investment Solutions area, area where he has worked since he joined Allfunds Bank thirteen years ago.
New Investment Solutions Head
The Investment Services Department will remain divided into two areas, Investment Research and Investment Solutions. Both report directly to Juan Alcaraz, Allfunds Bank’s CEO, due to their major relevance within the platform.
The Investment Research area is headed by Enrique Pardo and comprises one of the largest teams of fund analysts in Europe with analysts located in London and Madrid. The Investment Research team is responsible for fund research and selection covering all asset classes with a highly sophisticated research approach, matching all the needs of top institutional fund investors.
The Investment Solutions area, formerly led by Jaime Pérez-Maura, will now be led by Cristina de Benavides who has been promoted to Global Head of Investment Solutions. The Investment Solutions team includes 10 investment professionals around the world, taking care of the relationship and fund selection service delivery to a vast number of institutional clients on the platform. Cristina, formerly Head of Product Specialists, has more than ten years of professional experience, all within Allfunds Bank. Cristina’s work has always been related to fund investments both in Madrid and Milan offices.
Platform enhancement
By promoting Jaime and Cristina to their new senior roles, Allfunds Bank aims to benefit from their vast experience in the industry and their knowledge of the company in its quest to become the global leader in Fund Open Architecture solutions.
Jaime Pérez-Maura
Jaime Pérez-Maura has more than 13 years of experience in the industry. He joined Allfunds Bank in 2000 as a fund analyst and was quickly promoted to Head of Fund Selection. In 2008 he was named Director of Investment Consulting. Jaime has been involved in fund area since the inception of the platform; promoting and designing most of the enhancements that have made fund research a core service to the Allfunds Bank’s institutional client base.
Cristina de Benavides
Cristina de Benavides has more than 10 years of experience in the industry, with an extraordinary career as an investment professional at Allfunds Bank. While she spent most of her time in Madrid, she spent several years in the Milan office, actively involved in the definition of the fund selection proposition in Italy since the local office launch.
Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Ahmed Isse Haji. Los centros financieros del futuro en mercados emergentes
Nearly 40% of the centers included in the Global Financial Centers Index ranking are located in emerging markets. Since these markets gain prominence in the global economy and financial world, GFCI conducted a separate online questionnaire focusing on emerging markets. They asked respondents to indicate which regions they think are most likely to succeed in developing their financial services industry in the next three to five years:
Respondents indicated that China and South Korea would lead the way in Asia/Pacific though they voiced some concerns around currency controls and political stability in China;
In the Middle East/Africa, Qatar and the UAE would appear to have best prospects, followed by Turkey;
In Eastern Europe, Poland seems to be the country to watch most closely;
In Latin America, financial centers in Brazil made good ground in GFCI 13 and are likely to rise further.
GFCI also asked respondents to name their most important considerations when looking to invest in emerging markets. “It is not surprising to see that the most quoted dimensions include regulation, macroeconomic stability, levels of corruption, openness and competitiveness as well as political stability”, emphasizes the survey assessment.
Telegraph. Mexico now has a company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index
Walmart de México y Centroamérica, which has participated in the Sustainable IPC Index of the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) for two years, is now the first and only Mexican company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index.
According to a press realease, Scot Rank, Executive President and CEO of Walmart de México y Centroamérica commented: “Our vision is to contribute to improve the quality of life of the families in Mexico and Central America. We treasure the relation that we have with our Associates, Stockholders, Clients, Suppliers and the Communities where we operate and will keep on working as a socially responsible company. We want our operations to bring as many benefits as possible to our society.”
TheDow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index offers investors a tool to measure the performance of the 69 companies considered as leaders in corporate sustainability. Walmart de México y Centroamérica was selected from among 800 companies from 20 countries.
Mexico’s Stock Market sustainability index (IPC Sustentable) is a list of 29 companies out of 70 evaluated, that outstand the national average on the scores of environment, social responsibility and corporate governance, and that also complied with percentage criteria of floating shares, market floated value and minimum liquidity required.
Foto: Diliff
. Los multimillonarios de Hong Kong cuentan con 43.000 millones de dólares en activos en bienes raíces
Against the backdrop of a red hot premium property market, Hong Kong’s ultra wealthy population holds US$43 billion worth of real estate assets, representing 9% of the total net worth of its UHNW population, said Wealth-X in a press release.
Gender representation among Hong Kong UHNWIs is skewed with a female among every 4 UHNWIs. The typical Hong Kong UHNWI is 57 years old, married and self-made with an average net worth of US$150 million and liquid assets of US$34 million. Collectively, Hong Kong UHNWIs own US$52 billion worth of luxury assets, ranging from private aircraft to art and collectibles. The average Hong Kong UHNWI owns US$14 million worth of real estate holdings.
“Among assets, real estate continues to dominate Hong Kong UHNWIs’ luxury portfolios”
Wealth-X CEO, Mykolas D. Rambus said. “The continuing allure of property is very much attributable to wealth creation particularly for Hong Kong where real estate has been the source of wealth for many of Hong Kong’s storied billionaires that include Li Ka Shing, Lee Shau Kee and Cheng Yu Tung”.
Mr Rambus added, “Our analysis shows that UHNWIs above 70 years of age represent 25% of the Hong Kong UHNW population with an average net worth of more than US$100 million. Collectively, they hold more than 40% of the total wealth attributable to hectomillionaires. This means a significant phase of wealth transfer is likely to take place in the next 15-20 years. The ability to understand these UHNWIs and their social networks is key to success in becoming the chosen service provider in the wealth transfer process.”
Marco Ruijer joins the company as Lead Portfolio Manager Hard Currency, building upon the extensive investment expertise and track record of ING IM’s EMD boutique.
Marco has more than 10 years’ experience managing EMD portfolios and joins ING IM from asset manager Mn in the Netherlands where he was Senior Fund Manager, overseeing USD 5 billion in Emerging Market Debt assets.
Hans Stoter, CIO ING Investment Management: “We are pleased to welcome Marco to ING IM. He has an impressive track record in managing Emerging Market Debt portfolios. That, combined with more than a decade of investment experience, makes Marco a valuable addition to our EMD team, which continuously strives to offer client returns exceeding the benchmark.”
Marco joins a team currently managing approximately USD 13 billion* across the full EMD spectrum. Marco will be responsiblefor all of ING IM’s EMD hard currency portfolios globallyand be based in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The EMD Hard Currency strategy forms part of ING IM’s range of specialist emerging markets fixed income strategies, which are built upon the company’s experience in EMD investing and its heritage in emerging markets.
Marco obtained a Master’s degree in International Financial Economics from the University of Amsterdam in 1999 and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Foto: Keuchhustus . Boutique Asset Managers launch GBAM to help compete with global players
Boutique asset managers met in Spain on Thursday and Friday to form a self-help group to enable them to compete more effectively internationally with more dominant global players and to foster cooperation among themselves to increase their competitiveness. The boutiques have agreed to form an association which they have called: “Group of Boutique Asset Managers” or ‘GBAM’, said the new association in a press release.
The inaugural meeting of GBAM was led by March Gestión de Fondos– the asset management arm of the Spanish private bank, Banca March, and supported by other attendees from LatAm, Europe and Asia. Having set-up the organisation GBAM is now seeking other ‘like-minded’ boutiques.
The formation of GBAM is in response to theincreasing polarization of the asset management world between big asset managers with a broad range of capabilities and small specialist boutiques with a limited range of investment strategies (the “Barbell” effect)1. One aspect of the Barbell effect (often highlighted by commentators) is the ability of those managers caught in the ‘middle ground’ to survive. Less well appreciated, is the position of world class boutique asset managers whose voices (and successful investment strategies) are less well heard in world markets, given the dominance of powerful, well resourced, global players.
In response to this dominance, GBAM has been formed to foster cooperation among like-minded boutique/specialist asset managers. The managers who met in Spain are ‘like-minded’ in that they all share a performance driven culture, are generally recognised for their talent, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. Crucially, all have interest in expanding their businesses internationally, and so all face similar challenges in terms of managing to do so on limited resources. By coming together to share information2, the Group believes its members will be in a better position than they otherwise might have been.
The chief executive of asset manager March Gestión de Fondos, José Luis Jimenez said:
“Asset management is an exciting business given the levels of competition amongst the firms – large and small. And all of us seek to offer the very best strategies to investors. But while the boutiques represented in GBAM are happy to compete with the very best, we have to appreciate that the investors around the world may not be in a position to access boutiques managers as easily as the big firms. On the one hand, small players cannot be available everywhere and on the other, as a consequence of the crisis, many distributors’ prefer well-known names because it is easier to pick up a strong brand recognised by investors”.
“GBAM is not interested in involving itself in lobbying or competing with our national or international trade organizations. Rather, it is just a group of like-minded people who want to discuss important things in an open way and exchange ideas – our only goal being to improve our businesses on behalf of our clients and partners.
“Excellent world class boutique mangers can grow, even in a sector dominated by big players, providing they can offer greater added value that them. Performance plays a critical part, but equally being the first to discover new and interesting investment propositions or the strong alignment of interest that boutique managers have with their clients, is an attractive proposition,” said Jimenez.
Foto: Ziko-C . Rudolf Molkenboer es nombrado presidente y CEO de ING Financial Holdings
Rudolf Molkenboer has been appointed President & CEO of ING Financial Holdings Corporation, effective March 18, 2013. ING Financial Holdings Corporation is a subsidiary of ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin, offering a full range of financial services. In his new role, Molkenboer will oversee the firm’s business activities in the United States, which include structured finance, commercial lending, and financial markets sales and trading, and also has regional responsibility for the firm’s businesses in Latin America. He is based in New York and reports to Diederik van Wassenaer , ING’s Global Head of Clients & Network.
Molkenboer, 50, previously served as Global Head of Real Estate Finance (REF), ING Commercial Banking, based in The Hague, The Netherlands, and was primarily responsible for the successful integration of the global REF business into ING’s Commercial Banking platform. He joined ING in 2007 as Global Head of the Event Finance team, which assist in structuring transactions for ING clients globally. Previously, Molkenboer led the Media Benelux sector team at ABN Amro from 2001 to 2007. He began his career at Price Waterhouse as a tax advisor in the international tax practice.
“Rudolf has a proven track record of creating and expanding client-focused businesses for our operations,” said Diederik van Wassenaer . “His managerial, lending and business skills, combined with his extensive experience leveraging ING’s global network and services to clients, make him ideally suited to build on our solid business platform in the Americas.”
