The Board of Directors of Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA) announced yesterday that Scott Powell has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
Mr. Powell brings extensive experience in retail banking, risk management and consumer and auto lending to Santander. He has held a variety of roles at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., including Head of Banking and Consumer Lending Operations, CEO of Consumer Banking and Retail Investments, Head of Consumer Lending, as well as Chief Risk Officer, Consumer. He also spent 14 years at Citi in a variety of risk management roles. Most recently, Mr. Powell was Executive Chairman of National Flood Services Inc.
Santander Group Executive Chairman Ana Botín said: “We are delighted to have Scott join our team. His expertise and experience in retail banking, consumer finance and risk management will be a great contribution as we work to improve customer service, enhance our U.S.-wide oversight and embed our banking culture across the U.S.”
SHUSA Non-Executive Chairman T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., said: “Scott’s appointment is an important step toward our goal of strengthening Santander Holdings USA to manage our U.S. businesses. This will include bringing all the U.S. units together within SHUSA by the middle of this year.”
Santander Holdings USA, a fully-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander of Spain, owns 100% of Santander Bank, N.A. and 60.5% of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. of Dallas. Besides these units, Santander activities in the U.S. include a private bank in Miami, Banco Santander International, and businesses in Puerto Rico, including Santander Bancorp. These units’ operations will be consolidated within SHUSA by the middle of 2015.
Román Blanco will continue as CEO of Santander Bank.
Ana Botín said: “I would like to thank Roman for his very able leadership of Santander US. I am delighted he will continue to lead Santander Bank, where his focus will be on strengthening the Bank in its U.S. northeast footprint by improving customer service, attracting new customers and deepening customer relationships.”
Foto: Andrea B. Gloria y Emilio Estefan ponen a la venta una mansión en Star Island
According to The Real Deal, “Nena’s Villa,” a Star Island mansion owned by entertainment industry heavyweights Gloria and Emilio Estefan, has hit the market asking $40 million.
The Estefans — who have collectively received 26 Grammy Awards — actually live in another mansion at 39 Star Island Drive. “They own a beautiful property on two acres, on Star Island,” said Jill Eber of Coldwell Banker, who listed the home with her partner Jill Hertzberg. “This was a guest house for them that they were not using any more” informs The Real Deal.
Always according to this source, the 1.34-acre estate, located at 1 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach, last sold in November 1993 for $1.84 million. The property consists of a main house, built in 1940, and a guest house built in 1995, property records show. The main villa has 4,747 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms. The 2,661-square-foot guest house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It was offered as a rental for $30,000 a month in 2013.
“The property is phenomenal,” Eber told TRD. “It’s a just under 60,000-square-foot lot, with 240 feet on the bay with spectacular views to downtown and the bay.”
In addition to the Estefans, Star Island is home to Sean “Diddy” Combs; the “Boob God” Leonard Hochstein and his wife, Lisa, of the Real Housewives of Miami — who have torn down their home and are constructing a new mansion; billionaire Phillip Frost and Lennar Corp. Chief Executive Stuart Miller, who is seeking Miami Beach design review board approval to rotate his home and build a new 22,00o square-foot mansion the newly created space, concludes TRD.
BBVA Compass announced that Jason Leal has been named its market president of the Upper Rio Grande Valley, where he will lead efforts to increase brand awareness and represent the bank’s interests in the growing market.
Leal will provide leadership for all commercial banking activities, including business development and market leadership coordination, in an area that is experiencing solid growth in the health care and retail industries. He joined the BBVA Compass team eight years ago and most recently served as a commercial underwriting center manager.
“Jason’s a proven local leader and a Rio Grande Valley native, so this is a natural fit,” said BBVA Compass Texas Border Region CEO Hector Chacon. “He has adapted to change, maintained a strong reputation in the community and has remained committed to our success. I am certain he will continue to establish and strengthen our client relationships in the market and help contribute to our future success.”
Leal, who began his career in 1989 at the Rio Grande Valley-based Texas State Bank, has 24 years of banking experience with BBVA Compass and its legacy banks. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Brownsville, is a board member and vice president of Affordable Homes of South Texas, board member and president of the McAllen Country Club, board member and chairman of the Leadership McAllen Alumni Association and was recently placed on the University of Texas-Pan American Foundation Board of Trustees.
Invesco Perpetual wins the Overall Fund Group, plus two individual fund awards, at the 2015 Lipper Fund Awards. The Lipper Fund Awards honour funds and fund management firms that have excelled in consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.
“As advocates of active fund management, we’re delighted to have won Lipper’s Overall Fund Group Award in 2015 which recognises the strength and depth of our product offering”, said the firm in a press release.
“At Invesco Perpetual, we’ve built a renowned investment culture in Henley-on-Thames which supports our talented and experienced fund managers. Alongside our long-established equity and fixed interest capabilities, we’ve expanded our product range to include a multi-asset offering, which further supports our focus on long-term solutions for clients”, said.
In addition to the Overall Fund Group Award, the Invesco Perpetual High Yield and Global Equity Income Funds were also award winners.
Lewis Aubrey-Johnson, Head of Fixed Income Products commented: “We’re delighted to have received this award from Lipper in recognition of the fund’s risk-adjusted performance. This is the third award for the Invesco Perpetual High Yield Fund in the last 12 months, and with the addition of Asad Bhatti as Deputy Fund Manager, we aim to maintain our strong investment track record in future years.”
On the award for the Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund, Chief Investment Officer Nick Mustoe said: “Where some equity income funds look to maximise income in the short term by focusing on the highest yielding parts of the market, this fund focuses on sustainable income. We refer to this approach as ‘quality income’ and as such, are pleased to learn that Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund is a top performer in the IMA Global Equity Income sector over five years in the UK. Over the long term, we employ a ‘quality income’ approach that seeks to deliver a diversified portfolio of stocks that provide an attractive mix of income, dividend growth and capital appreciation.”
Despite the leading banks’ zero interest rate policy and weak oil prices, the global economy is in danger of a slowdown, according to Guy Wagner, Chief Investment Officer at Banque de Luxembourg and Managing Director of BLI – Banque de Luxembourg Investments, and his team, in the monthly market analysis, ‘Highlights’.
In the United States, the GDP increase in the 4th quarter of 2014 was driven by domestic consumption, while investments and exports showed signs of weakness. “Outside the United States, economic activity is fragile in most regions,” says Guy Wagner. “In Europe and Japan, the recent slight improvement in the main economic indicators does not point to a significant upturn, given the weakness of the comparison bases.” In China, the slowdown in economic growth looks set to continue and could prompt the public authorities to embark on support measures in the coming weeks.
Government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance
The ECB’s pronouncement of a massive programme of quantitative easing has prompted a further fall in long rates, even though they were already extremely low. In the Eurozone, yields on 10-year government bonds fell in Germany, Italy and Spain. Bond yields have also dropped in the United States. “Despite the miserable level of long rates, government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance,” says the Luxembourg economist. “The only scenario in which government bonds can continue to pull off good surprises would be if negative interest rates were introduced on a grand scale by the central banks – something that cannot be excluded given the prospects of economic slowdown.”
Investors consider equities as the default investment
In January, stock market developments were largely determined by fluctuating currency values. The euro’s weakness helped the Stoxx 600 Index to grow in Europe, while Japan’s Topix and the MSCI Emerging Markets (in JPY and USD respectively) stagnated and the S&P 500 (in USD) fell. Guy Wagner: “Given the euro’s decline against the dollar and the yen, stock market investments produced particularly decent results for a European investor in January. In a zero interest rate environment, investors continue to view equities as the default investment despite the steady advance of deflationary pressures – well illustrated by the escalating devaluation race.”
The dollar’s upward march is likely to continue
In January, the euro fell sharply against the US dollar as a result of the ECB’s announcement of a massive programme of quantitative easing. “Although the dollar’s impressive rise in January would suggest a temporary period of stabilisation is due, the currency’s upward march is likely to continue until and unless a rise in US interest rates is called into question.”
BNY Mellon Investment Managementannounced that it has partnered with Amherst Holdings, LLC, a leading financial services provider to institutional investors in the mortgage and structured finance sectors, to launch Amherst Capital ManagementLLC (ACaM), a real estate credit investment management platform that will offer a wide range of both traditional and alternative strategies. BNY Mellon and Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company (Texas Trust) have made significant capital commitments to the platform.
ACaMis being launched as a majority-owned subsidiary of Standish, BNY Mellon’s fixed income focused investment boutique, and will be co-owned by Amherst Holdings. ACaM will utilize Amherst’s proprietary data, analytics and market insight, giving the platform a unique perspective on the fundamental elements driving asset performance. As a result, Standish will be able to leverage ACaM’s significant real estate and mortgage expertise and proprietary analytics to support its multi-sector investment strategies. ACaM will initially be focused on direct lending opportunities, with plans to launch additional strategies in the future.
Sean Dobson, a seasoned veteran of the real estate finance markets will serve as CEO of ACaM. Upon completion of the transaction, Amherst Holdings will continue to operate subsidiaries specializing in mortgage and residential real estate assets.
The addition of ACaM is a natural complement to BNY Mellon Investment Management’s broader array of global real estate investment solutions currently offered by its CenterSquare, Insight, Siguler Guff[i] and Alcentra investment boutiques.
Melia Gorriones (Fuerteventura) Foto: Michael . Starwood Capital Group y Meliá se unen para adquirir resorts en España
Starwood Capital Group and leading Spanish hotel operator Melia Hotels International announced that they have established a joint venture that has agreed to acquire a collection of hotels across key resort locations in Spain.
The initial portfolio for the joint venture consists of seven well-established beachfront hotels representing 2,933 keys that are currently owned by Melia Hotels International and will continue to be managed by Melia upon completion of the transaction. The properties will be acquired by the joint venture in a transaction valued at €176 million ($198 million), subject to the approval of the European Union Merger Control Office.
Included in the initial portfolio are the Sol Principe in Malaga, the Sol Lanzarote and Melia Gorriones (Fuerteventura) in the Canary Islands, the Sol Ibiza and Sol Pinet Playa in Ibiza, and the Sol Mirlos and Sol Tordos (Palmanova, Mallorca). The hotels will all be fully refurbished.
A controlled affiliate of Starwood Capital will own 80% of the joint venture company, while Melia Hotels International will own the remaining 20%. The joint venture plans to seek out opportunities to integrate additional properties into the portfolio.
The joint venture represents Starwood Capital Group’s second transaction in Spain over the last several months. In late October, the Firm completed the acquisition, through a controlled affiliate, of a portfolio of loans from BFA-Bankia Group that included a significant number of real estate properties as underlying collateral. Starwood Capital Group has acquired more than $63 billion of real estate assets globally since its inception in 1991, including approximately 2,300 hotels and resorts.
According to new research released from Pershing Advisor Solutions entitled Super-Ensembles: The Firms Who Are Shaping the Future of the Industry, a group of 250 super-ensemble firms are poised to shape the future of the advisory industry and are setting the standard for growth, client service and practice management best practices as evidenced by their impressive revenue and growth.
Super-ensembles are advisory firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) and are characterized by a defined brand, sophisticated value proposition and strong management. Such firms are also achieving local market dominance through investment in technology, aggressive growth strategies and a long-term vision for their businesses.
“Every business owner can learn from the strategy that super-ensembles are successfully bringing to the marketplace, and we are seeing their business practices quickly becoming the standard to follow for the rest of the industry,” said Gabriel Garcia, head of relationship management for Pershing Advisor Solutions. “Success isn’t merely defined by the size of a firm. We believe that firms of all sizes can learn from the different growth strategies and best practices being implemented by super-ensembles to more effectively manage and grow their own businesses.”
The success of the super-ensemble model, and its ability to outperform the industry in terms of revenue and growth, is evident in the numbers. In 2014 the typical super-ensemble had $1,450,000 in owner income on average compared to $430,000 for ensembles (firms with AUM under $500 million) and $305,000 for solo firms (one-advisor practices). Super-ensembles were also the fastest growing firms with 18.6 percent revenue growth, compared to ensembles whose revenue grew at 17.1 percent and solo firms at 15.4 percent.
According to the study, super-ensembles scale primarily through strategic and organic means. However, they are also interested in growing through acquisitions and mergers. In fact, over one-third of super-ensembles (37 percent) are actively searching for acquisitions and 6.3 percent are interested in a merger with a similarly-sized firm. Other means of creating a super-ensemble are strategic partnerships and aggressive marketing.
In contrast to their smaller peers, young super-ensembles are deliberate in their growth and more likely to pursue business development, which allows them to drive acquisition of new clients faster than other firms. Eighty percent have a defined target for non-owner lead advisors and 17 percent have business development partners.
For firms looking to become super-ensembles, the study outlines a number of steps they can take to achieve this goal:
Act like a super-ensemble, regardless of size: Dedicating time and resources to management, even if full-time management is not affordable, will keep any firm disciplined. Carefully articulating a strategy and being diligent in execution will help the firm progress and grow in a systematic manner.
Attract talent: The addition of professionals and managers who have experience working in larger organizations can assist smaller firms in finding a way to grow faster and impart knowledge from their larger peers.
Merge: There is no faster way to achieve size and reach the level of resources of a billion-dollar firm than a merger. Mergers are difficult, laborious and risky initiatives, but they have created many of today’s largest firms.
Acquire: Acquisitions are not the exclusive domain of the largest firms and, in fact, many of the mid-size firms can find good opportunities to acquire solo practices and add clients and markets to their business.
Focus on culture: Culture is slow to evolve and change, and creating the “right” culture—even when the firm is smaller—will allow a firm to succeed at later stages in its evolution. A dedicated focus on developing the right culture can secure the success of the firm as it grows and can help shape the direction of any mergers and acquisitions.
Prioritize growth: Growing faster starts with making growth a priority of the firm. The single most important marketing resource of a firm is the time of its most experienced professionals. Firms where partners prioritize growth tend to spend their time focused on this area, which is more likely to result in a faster expansion.
To obtain a copy of Pershing’s whitepaper Super-Ensembles: The Firms Who Are Shaping the Future of the Industry, please visit this link.
Morningstar has announced the agenda for the Morningstar Institutional Conference taking place March 5-6 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference, formerly the Morningstar Ibbotson Conference, is Morningstar’s premier event for institutional investors and wealth managers featuring thought leaders from academic institutions, the financial services industry, and Morningstar. Attendees will discuss current investment trends, the latest portfolio strategies, and perspectives on the U.S. and global economies.
Morningstar is pleased to welcome back Richard H. Thaler, the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Thaler will discuss how investor behavior affects retirement plan design and how to apply behavioral principles to money management.
Additional speakers include:
Brad DeLong, professor of economics and chair of the political economy major at the University of California, Berkeley, will address investing for a 30-year horizon.
Roger Ibbotson, Ph.D., founder of Ibbotson Associates (which Morningstar acquired in 2006), professor of finance at Yale School of Management, and partner at Zebra Capital Management, will present new research that challenges long-held assumptions about the relationship between risk and return, and proposes a new paradigm for understanding investment performance—popularity.
Ben Inker, co-head of asset allocation, GMO, will explain his firm’s framework for determining an optimal retirement strategy that relies on dynamic asset allocation.
Kevin L. Kliesen, business economist and research officer, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will share his outlook for the U.S. economy.
Sallie Krawcheck, chair, Ellevate, and former president, Global Wealth and Investment Management division of Bank of America, will share research-based insights into how to meet the needs of women investors, who represent $11 trillion in investable assets but are still considered a “niche” market in the financial industry.
Thought leaders from across Morningstar will presentnew research during a series of breakout sessions on topics such as:
Annuities, retirement, and defined contribution plans.
Automated portfolio construction.
Efficient income investing.
Financial wellness.
Minimizing downside risk while preserving returns.
Modeling individual stock risk.
The Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for funds in action.
New approaches to capital market forecasting and asset allocation.
Preserving wealth with behavioral science.
The U.S. labor market and global economic outlook.
“This conference is our premier event for institutional investors that provides attendees with intimate access to prominent academics, industry leaders, and researchers from across Morningstar,” Daniel Needham, president and CIO of Morningstar’s Investment Management group, said. “The agenda touches on all the factors that contribute to the end investor’s financial outcome with an emphasis on long-term, ‘total wealth’ investing. We’re excited to present the latest research on such topics as behavioral economics, the drivers of market performance, dynamic asset allocation, and efficient income investing. We’ll also explore the future of the defined contribution market and the outlook for the global economy.
“Attendees will hear from researchers and business leaders about how they harness investor behavior and employ the latest asset allocation and portfolio construction techniques to create outcomes-oriented solutions for investors. We believe this new paradigm will come to dominate the financial services industry.”
Foto: Steve MCN, Flickr, Creative Commons. Apoyo a "la última frontera" a través de la inversión
While Africa continues to be an increasingly attractive investment destination, this has not resulted in comparative increases in foreign direct investment, with India for example receiving more foreign direct investment over the last four years than the whole of Africa combined. As the largest private investor in Africa, Old Mutual Investment Group is well positioned to capitalise on its unique advantage as a market leader on the continent and will continue to implement strategies in line with the projected future impact of Africa’s growing economies on investment returns.
Against this backdrop, we continue to see that improving perceptions of Africa as an investment destination are being underpinned by strong GDP growth, favourable demographics through a rapidly urbanising population and rising middle class, reduced political risk and improved corporate governance.
As such, the world is finally awakening to the emergence of Africa and its exciting GDP as the next big regional growth story.
China continues to expand its investment on the continent, while figures show there is also an increasing appetite for investment from the Middle Eastern economies, Asia, Latin America, the rest of Europe and the UK.
This growing interest is being driven by significantly positive prospects for the continent over the next decade. It’s not merely a matter of resources, but also about providing the structures and systems required by the burgeoning growth in the middle class, which is now larger than that of India.
The real story remains that of the developing consumer market across the continent, driving the growth of the retail sector. These consumers are increasingly accessing services in banking, insurance and mobile telecoms. Housing and infrastructure development also remains a key theme as well as the substantial opportunities in agriculture.
Figures show that 10 years ago, there were 116 million people constituting the middle class in Africa. Currently, this figure stands at over 326 million people, about a third of the continent. This compares to about 54 percent of the population in Asia and 77 percent of the population in Latin America.
The corporate, governance and political landscape has also transformed significantly for the better over the last decade.
From a global viewpoint, Africa continues to offer high growth opportunities, while risk diminishes and fundamentals remain solid.
Our investment focus is largely directed at sustainable projects around key development themes, which also go beyond listed equity. These include alternative investment and fixed interest arenas such as low carbon energy, education, affordable housing, infrastructure real estate, agriculture, and unlisted debt, diversified across countries, asset types, managers, and economic/inflation cycles.
By investing in schools, housing and infrastructure, we are not only supporting the development of the continent and making a lasting, positive impact on the social landscape, but also ensuring sustainable returns for investors. While private equity investments on the continent remain long term and illiquid, they are giving us net real returns of 2% to 3% above listed assets.
Hywel George, Director of Investments, Old Mutual Investment Group
