The Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust has purchased a portfolio of three offices, plus a retail warehouse in cities across the UK. The two separate deals represent a total investment of over £18 million, bringing the Trust’s overall portfolio to just over £300 million.
The offices – in York, Milton Keynes and Dartford – have a total value of £13.25m, reflecting an initial yield of 7.4%. All the offices are fully let to prime tenants with strong covenants.
The retail acquisition is a Halfords retail warehouse, part sublet to Maplin, and a car show room in Bradford. The asset was acquired for £5.1 million at a yield of 9.5%. It is located next to the dominant retail warehouse park in Bradford.
Jason Baggaley, Fund Manager of the Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust, commented: “These investments demonstrate our confidence in UK regional property markets where we continue to find high quality assets across sectors. The office acquisitions should provide an attractive return on income plus rental growth, while the retail investment offers an attractive running yield with plenty of asset management potential.”
. Los asesores independientes de EE.UU. (RIAs) alcanzan cifras récord de crecimiento y rentabilidad
As many independent registered investment advisor (RIA) firms surpass the 20 years-in-business mark, their revenue and profitability have achieved all-time highs according to results from Charles Schwab’s 2015 RIA Benchmarking Study. Nearly half of firms (42%) participating in the Study have doubled their revenue since 2009, and assets under management (AUM) have increased by 75 percent for half of firms in the Study over the same time period, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1 percent. Along with AUM growth, profitability – measured as standardized operating margin – has risen 36 percent over the last five years and now stands at 27 percent for the median firm in the Study. Moreover, the gap in profitability has decreased between the most profitable and least profitable firms as the industry continues to mature and more firms adopt best practices and technology-led innovations.
Now in its ninth year, the Study includes responses from more than 1,000 firms collectively managing nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars in assets. In addition to record revenue and profitability, the data also shows that RIA firms have achieved an effective combination of growth and improved operating margins as they are increasingly institutionalizing operations and making strategic decisions around talent – not only to manage their recent growth, but also to be better positioned to succeed into the next decade and beyond. The results indicate that the sustained, rapid growth trajectory over the past five years has also helped build considerable value in many firms. The benchmarking data indicates firms are not only increasing assets under management through both client acquisition and organic growth but are also enjoying high client and employee retention – attributes of business health and value.
“More than half of the RIA firms in the Study are now embarking on their third decade in business and the data shows that they are doing so from a position of competitive strength,” says Jonathan Beatty, senior vice president, sales and relationship management, Schwab Advisor Services. “As RIAs and the industry-at-large continue to mature, firms are learning from each other and sharing best practices to help build scale and fuel growth. The independent model is clearly winning today amonghigh-net-worth investors, and RIAs are also preparing themselves to capture future opportunities.”
With more than $23 trillion in high-net-worth investor assets still held outside of the industry in other advice models, independent advisors have an immense opportunity at hand.
Over the past five years, the number of new clients has surged by more than 24percent for half of the Study participants, and in 2014 alone, top-performing firms added ten percent or more new clients, while the median firm added five percent more clients. Firms are also taking on larger clients; the average account size is now $1.9 million, and $3.9 million among the top-performing firms.
Beyond new client acquisition, firms are also successfully winning and keeping the trust of existing clients as evidenced by a median 97 percent client retention rate year-over-year. Furthermore, among existing clients, firms are increasing share of wallet – top-performing firms increased share of wallet by four percent in 2014.
The Study shows that the combination of new assets and larger account sizes has helped drive firm revenues over the past five years, with the median firm seeing revenue CAGR of 13.6 percent rate and top-performing firms experiencing 18.8 percent revenue CAGR. Larger account sizes have also resulted in improved revenue per professional. The median firm reported $554,000 revenue per professional in 2014 while the top-performing firms indicate revenue of more than $800,000 per professional.
Foto: Doug8888, Flickr, Creative Commons. La industria mundial de fondos alcanza nuevos récords, liderada por EE.UU., Europa, Australia, Japón y Brasil
Investment fund assets worldwide stood at a new all-time high of EUR 37.8 trillion at end March 2015, reflecting growth of 13.7 percent during the first quarter. In U.S. dollar terms, worldwide investment fund assets increased 0.8 percent to stand at USD 40.35 trillion at March 2015, reflecting the depreciation of the euro vis-à-vis the US dollar during the first quarter of 2015, according to the European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama). Efama has released its latest international statistical release containing the worldwide investment fund industry results for the first quarter of 2015.
Worldwide net cash inflows increased in the first quarter to EUR 574 billion, up from EUR 495 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, thanks to increased net inflows to equity, bond and balanced/mixed funds.
Long-term funds (all funds excluding money market funds) recorded net inflows of EUR 585 billion during the first quarter, a 54 percent increase from the previous quarter (EUR 379 billion).
Equity funds attracted net inflows of EUR 157 billion, up from EUR 138 billion in the fourth quarter. Bond funds posted increased net inflows of EUR 173 billion, up from EUR 87 billion in the previous quarter. Balanced funds also registered a large net inflow of EUR 213 billion, up from EUR 120 billion in the previous quarter.
Money market funds registered net outflows of EUR 12 billion during the first quarter of 2015, compared to net inflows of EUR 116 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. This result is largely attributable to net outflows in the United States (EUR 70 billion), whereas Europe registered net inflows during the quarter of EUR 43 billion.
At the end of the first quarter, assets of equity funds represented 40 percent and bond funds represented 21 percent of all investment fund assets worldwide. Of the remaining assets, money market funds represented 11 percent and the asset share of balanced/mixed funds was 17 percent.
The market share of the ten largest countries/regions in the world market were the United States (49.2%), Europe (32.5%), Australia (3.9%), Japan (3.8%), Brazil (3.2%), Canada (3.1%), China (2.0%), Rep. of Korea (0.9%), South Africa (0.4%) and India (0.4%).
Foto: Montecruz Foto
. ¿Dejarán las gestoras de fuera de la UE de comercializar sus vehículos alternativos en Europa debido a AIMFD?
Preqin’s latest survey of global hedge fund managers reveals that most UK- and Europe-based hedge fund managers are AIFMD-compliant: Almost all (90%) of UK-based firms, and 82% of fund managers across the rest of Europe. By contrast, there has been slow uptake among firms beyond the EU’s borders; a quarter of hedge fund managers based across Asia and Rest of World currently comply, and only 15% of firms based in the US.
A large proportion (42%) of fund managers based outside the EU do not plan to raise capital from EU investors in the near future; of this group, 59% are avoiding the region due to concerns about the AIFMD. Many managers based outside the EU are relying on investors to approach them through reverse solicitation. Even so, 38% of US managers have chosen to avoid the EU completely, with most citing compliance costs and the risks arising from uncertainty and lack of guidance surrounding the directive.
The negativity surrounding the AIFMD has reduced over the past six months, with 45% of respondents to Preqin’s June 2015 survey believing the Directive will change the hedge fund landscape for the worse, compared to 58% as of December 2014.
Despite the majority of UK firms being compliant, not a single UK hedge fund manager surveyed expected the AIFMD to have a positive impact on their firm in the coming year. This compares to 55% of non-UK EU hedge funds that believe it will have a positive impact.
Two-thirds of firms globally reported that the costs of complying with the AIFMD are higher than expected. No fund managers reported the costs as lower than expected.
The largest fund managers are more likely to be compliant with the AIFMD regulation; 46% of fund managers with more than $1bn in AUM are compliant, compared to 19% of those with less than $100mn. Forty percent of firms with less than $100mn in AUM will not be marketing a fund within the EU at all.
“As we approach the 22nd July anniversary of its implementation, the AIFMD has had a varied effect on the hedge fund industry. While general negativity towards the regulation has fallen over the past six months, 45% of fund managers still believe the AIFMD will change the industry for the worse, and only 23% feel it will have a positive impact. Although in Europe most hedge funds are AIFMD-compliant, only a relatively small number of fund managers from beyond the EU’s borders have acquired compliance status. Despite having one of the highest levels of compliance (90%), not a single UK-based fund manager felt the directive will have a positive impact on their business.
Many non-EU fund managers are choosing to avoid investment from the region completely, which may result in a reduced choice of funds available for investment for EU-based investors. The leading concern hedge fund managers have about the new regulation is the increased costs of complying with the EU directive, with two thirds of those managers that have acquired the passport stating the costs have been higher than they originally expected”, said Amy Bensted, Head of Hedge Fund Products, Preqin.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrIgor de Maack, gestor de DNCA Invest Convertibles, en DNCA, boutique de Natixis. Foto cedida. DNCA (Natixis): “Mientras el mundo exterior no se desacelere demasiado rápido, el rally en renta variable continuará en Europa”
Europe will be the only area where growth will accelerate in 2015 and, as long as the outside world does not decelerate too quickly, the equity rally will continue. That is the conviction of Igor de Maack, Fund Manager at DNCA Invest Convertibles (Natixis). In this interview with Funds Society, the fund manager explains that he has more convictions in the domestic sectors in Europe or influenced by M&A (media, construction, telecoms). And in peripheral Europe vs core. But he advices: it would be dangerous to bet on an overly strong EPS recovery: “Some countries, especially in the emerging world, will not be EPS contributors for global companies”.
How optimist are you regarding Europe’s growth, and what about European companies?
Europe will be the only area where growth will accelerate in 2015. International and European bodies have all upwardly revised their growth prospects (>1,5%). When we compare EPS expectations, Europe will be the only territory where we can expect upward revisions. Why, just simply because the level of cumulated profit of the European corporates is 30% below their pre- crisis level. Even with a weak Euro, interest rates at historically low levels and cheap oil, Europe can still grow even with demand at relatively low levels.
Will the credit boost be the main driver of the economic recovery? Which other factors?
The distribution of credit is key for recovery in any type of liberal modern economy. With the introduction of LTRO and of European Quantitative Easing, data has shown some positive momentum in credit distribution by the European banks. It means that European consumers start to believe in better times and look for new projects. The other main driver for the current recovery in Europe has to do with politics. Structural reforms must be imposed and politicians need to provide the corporate and the individuals with adequate economical and fiscal frameworks.
How could this growth scenery affect equity markets in the next few months? Do you expect a rally in European equities?
When there is economic growth which is efficiently spread across economic sectors (private and public), this growth should be reflected in firms’ profit generation. If companies can borrow at low cost in order to easily finance their organic or external growth, then one should see a strong increase in their profits and therefore attractive valuation multiples. As long as the outside world does not decelerate too quickly, one can expect the equity rally to continue.
There is much consensus about the attractiveness of European equities at the moment… Could this be dangerous?
Valuation cannot be described as very cheap but they are cheaper following the recent correction. What is dangerous is to bet on an overly strong EPS recovery. Some countries, especially in the emerging world, will not be EPS contributors for global companies. Some sectors are already overpriced including, technologies, biotechs or high growth themes, Chinese equities. Beware of these bubbles.
Do you think central banks and the ECB are contributing to generate a bubble? Should investors take advantage of this context or protect themselves against an uncertain future?
The bubbles are created and destroyed by the economic agents themselves. Central banks are just here to ensure that the monetary systems have continuity. Their intervention are some times more relevant and meaningful. Investors should therefore take profit in these periods when money is cheap. It might be an historical moment.
Do you think last corrections due to the Greek crisis could generate opportunities to buy?
Yes but it never lasts long. The Greek crisis will come back. There will be other moments to invest into riskier assets (equities) but the rule is to invest progressively.
How do you see Greece’s agreement with Europe and what do you think it could mean to the markets?
The “Agreekment” was a relief for the markets but not for the Greek people. Their government has lost the battle and the war. Restructuring the Greek debt is inevitable in the near future. Europe has refused the “Diktat” from Tsipras but will need to send a strong message to all European people.
How does the Euro contribute to the impulse of the markets and in which levels do you see it vs dollar?
Euro is weak and therefore it is a competitive advantage for the exporting companies in the Euro zone. It also creates some imported inflation. Euro is a disguised Deutsche Mark. It should normally be stronger vs dollar when we look at the fundamentals of the Euro zone.
In which companies or sectors do you have more convictions?
In the domestic sectors in Europe or sectors influenced by M&A (media, construction, telecom). Banks are cheap and are value investments even though the pressure of regulation should imply a discount. With the recovery of credit distribution, they should see more interest income in their P&L.
Core Europe or peripheral? And what about Spain?
We prefer peripheral Europe to core but good investment deals are all across Europe. Spain is an investment territory for us but we must see political clarity after the elections.
Which all ECB measures… but also with the environment of the recovery of the corporates earnings, do you think is the moment to invest more with a macro or micro approach?
Micro-approach should be the winning lottery ticket. As we are now more confident in the macro approach, stock picking shall be the way forward.
During the first half of 2015, Natixis Global Asset Management has experienced a strong growth of its business, obtaining a new record of net inflows of US$ 33 billion worldwide and managing about US$ 923 billion in assets under management.
According to the latest information published about their earnings, Natixis Global Asset Management was profitable over the past first six months of this year. When comparing its first half revenues to those of 2014, it showed a solid growth in net revenues with an increase of 25% at current exchange rates. However, if constant exchange rates are used, the growth in net revenues is lower, with an increase of 8%. Moreover, the gross operating income of this first half has increased a 35% compared to last year first half.
The largest increase of net inflows came from their business in United States, with US$ 19 billion of net inflows or 57.6% of the total net inflows, which made a total in asset under management of US$ 471.8 in the United States.
The next largest bulk of net inflow came from Europe, where its net inflows totaled US$ 12 billion, making a total in asset under management of US$ 417.7 billion for the European region.
In Asia, the net inflows totaled US$ 0.8 billion, while the Asian assets under management made a whole sum of US$ 8.2 billion. The rest of net inflows, US$ 1.2 billion approximately, were not specifically assigned to any region, although the rest of asset under management, US$ 6.6 billion were attributed to the private equity division.
Lastly, it should be highlighted that there were strong flows in fixed-income for American and European affiliates with US$ 22 billion in net new money.
Foto: Kenny Louie
. Oakleigh Thorne participará en el FOX Global Investment Forum
Family Office Exchange (FOX) has announced Oakleigh Thorne (CEO of Thorndale Farm, LLC and Co-President of Blumenstein / Thorne Information Partners, LLC), a highly successful family office investor with 20 years of experience as a direct investor since the sale of a fourth generation family business, Commerce Clearing House, will be the keynote speaker at the event 2015 FOX Global Investment Forum, to be hold on September 10th at the Harvard Club in New York City. Thorne will be giving his first person story about family office investment strategy post-liquidity event, as well as examples of current portfolio companies, including Gogo Inflight Internet.
The Forum features top family speakers, including private equity legend Wilbur Ross, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co., who will discuss the current investment climate and identify strategies for uncovering contrarian, value-oriented investments; Michael A. Cole, President and Daniel J. Rauchle, CIO of Ascent Private Capital Management, who will address how to frame and discuss an investment program with multi-generational families; Stuart Porter, founder and CEO of Denham Capital, who will discuss investment opportunities in energy such as oil and gas as well as renewables; The Head of Impact Investing for the World Economic Forum USA, Abigail Noble, who will lead a breakout session on impact investing in the family office; And George Loening, CEO of Select Equity Group, will speak at a breakout session on taking a 25 year time horizon in private equity.
Wealth owners, CIOs and investment decision makers in a single family or multi-family office are invited to attend. For full agenda and registration information, you may use this link
Foto: Gregory Slobirdr Smith. Mirae Asset Global Investments expande su equipo de ventas en Estados Unidos
Mirae Asset Global Investments (USA) LLC, or Mirae Asset USA, the investment advisor for the Mirae Asset Discovery Funds, has announced that it has hired four new wholesalers to help drive mutual fund growth in the United States, according to PR Newswire.
Mirae Asset USA manages over US$ 5.3 billion in equity and fixed income assets. Its mutual fund products, such as the Emerging Markets Great Consumer Fund and the Asia Great Consumer Fund, focus on Asia-centric strategies that leverage Mirae Asset USA’s emerging market heritage and on-the-ground presence to deliver high-conviction portfolios and quality long-term performance for investors in the United States.
“At Mirae Asset USA, we add more to our advisor relationships by providing them with a consultative sales process and resource for emerging markets expertise that the advisory community can rely upon,” said John Capeci, Head of National Accounts and Mutual Fund Sales at Mirae Asset USA. “Our new wholesalers are instrumental in ensuring we maintain that standard as well as achieve our growth objectives in the U.S. through increased sales and distribution.”
Additions to the mutual fund sales team include:
Adam Young joins as a Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for Texas and Oklahoma. Before joining Mirae Asset USA, he provided advisor coverage for South Texas and Southern California as an Internal Sales Consultant at Invesco. Mr. Young is a graduate of the University of Houston and is a Certified Financial Planner.
Brian Malizia joins as a Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Mr. Malizia joins Mirae Asset USA from Alpine Woods Capital Investors, where he was responsible for covering financial advisory clients in the greater Chicago area. He is a graduate of Xavier University.
Patrick Przybylowski joins as an Internal Wholesaler for Northern California and New Jersey. Most recently Mr. Przybylowski worked as an Internal Wholesaler for KBS Capital Markets Group LLC and has seven years of industry experience. He is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College.
Timothy Spelman joins as an Internal Wholesaler for the New York Metro area and Southwest region. Mr. Spelman has nine years of industry experience and previously served as an Associate Sales Director at Third Avenue Management. He is a graduate of The Catholic University of America.
The external wholesalers report to John Capeci. The internal wholesalers report to John Whitaker, Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for Ohio and Michigan, who adds to his responsibilities the role of Sales Desk Manager for the firm’s newly-formed internal sales desk.
These hires add to the recent additions to the U.S. sales team of Tony Matheson, who serves as Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for Northern California, Washington, Oregon and Northern Nevada, William Clinton, who serves as Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and Christopher Begbie, who serves as the Regional Vice President and Emerging Markets Specialist for Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
Mirae Asset USA’s sales team now consists of 10 external wholesalers, three internal wholesales and one client portfolio manager.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrGilbert Addeo, nombrado COO de Investment Placement Group - foto cedida. Gilbert Addeo, nombrado director de operaciones de Investment Placement Group
Investment Placement Group (IPG) has announced that industry veteran Gilbert “Gil” Addeo has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Development. Mr. Addeo, will be based in San Diego and report directly to Mr. Adolfo Gonzalez-Rubio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IPG.
With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mr. Addeo will be an integral member of IPG’s executive leadership team with direct oversight of compliance, operations, trading, private banking, finance, information technology and business development.
Mr. Addeo most recently served as a Director at Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon Company, where he oversaw the international Relationship Management teams. Prior to that, Mr. Addeo served as the Head of Business Development and Relationship Management at Bear Stearns Clearing Corp.
Mr. Gonzalez-Rubio commented, “We are very happy to have Gil become part of the IPG team. Having known Gil for many years, I can say that he is a talented leader and brings a lot of expertise to IPG. I look forward to working with Gil and I am confident with his leadership we can achieve our goals of attracting new advisors to our platform.”
Mr. Addeo commented, “I am very excited to become part of the IPG team. IPG is a great organization with a 30 plus year history of success and clear vision of growth in both international and domestic markets. IPG has all the tools from dynamic global trading in Equites, Fixed Income options and commodities, partnerships with the top clearing and custody platforms in the industry and access to various investment products for our clients. This is the perfect environment for advisors looking to gain independence with a fully developed platform to support them. I look forward to the opportunities ahead.”
Foto: EvelynGiggles, Flickr, Creative Commons. Schroders incorpora a Chris Hsia y Mei Huang a su equipo de Multiactivos
Schroders has announced two further hires within Multi-asset Investments and Portfolio Solutions (MAPS), a business which manages £75.5 billion (as at 30 June 2015) on behalf of its clients globally.
Chris Hsia joins Schroders as Product Manager for MAPS, from Morgan Stanley where he spent the last 16 years, most recently as the Chief Investment Officer for Bank Morgan Stanley AG and as the Head of Investment Products & Solutions for International Wealth Management within Morgan Stanley &Co. As MAPS Product Manager Chris will help drive the product-led communications of a selection of MAPS strategies. Chris will work with Schroders regional Product Managers, relevant consultant and distribution teams to ensure Schroders’ clients have all of the relevant information that they require. Chris will report to Henriette Bergh, Head of UK and European Product & Manager Solutions.
Mei Huang joins Schroders as Quantitative Analyst, from the Global Equities research division of HSBC Asset Management. Prior to this Mei worked at AQR Capital Management LLC as Portfolio Manager within the Global Stock Selection (GSS) team. There Mei co-managed AQR’s global equities funds and strategies. Mei will report to Peter Weidner, Head of Advanced Beta, Multi-asset Quantitative Research and will be responsible for researching and constructing advanced beta equity strategies.
Nico Marais, Head of Multi-asset Investments and Portfolio Solutions commented: “Strengthening our ability to interact with clients around investment outcomes and building our Advanced Beta capabilities are key initiatives. We are therefore pleased to have Chris and Mei join the MAPS team in their respective roles.”
