J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Sonnedix have announced that institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management have joined Sonnedix’s management and shareholders in a new 50/50 joint venture platform company, Sonnedix Power Holdings Ltd., to pursue opportunities in the attractive, rapidly expanding global solar market.
The joint venture platform currently operates 17 power plants with 117MW of installed capacity across France, Italy, Spain, Thailand and Puerto Rico. It also has a portfolio of 18 projects representing over 600MW of projects in pre-construction stages in Japan, Puerto Rico, Chile, UK and South Africa. The joint venture anticipates a total commitment for the operating and development projects of more than €300 million.
Speaking about the partnership, Matt LeBlanc, CIO of OECD Infrastructure at J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets, said, “These are exciting times in the clean energy market and Sonnedix’s experienced management team, highly focused on execution and operations, is well positioned to benefit from the confluence of technology improvements, operational efficiencies and economies of scale. This combination results in a lower cost of solar PV, even with the current energy market volatility, and these operating investments are already generating consistent and growing investment yields supported by long-term contracts.”
Carlos Guinand, Chairman and Director of Sonnedix, said, “As the global solar power industry experiences exceptional growth rates, we are keen to expand further our footprint across multiple regulatory regimes that are at different phases of renewable integration. Our joint venture with J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s clients will be integral in capturing these opportunities and building our platform.”
Pan American Finance, Paul Hastings and Mayer Brown advised Sonnedix in the transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom acted as legal advisor to J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Pátria Investimentos and Blackstone have announced that Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII and Pátria Brazil Real Estate Fund III acquired four office buildings in Rio de Janeiro from Opportunity’s Real Estate Fund for R$700 million. Pátria and Blackstone will own the portfolio in a 50/50 joint venture.
“Well-located and recently-constructed, these buildings have attracted a wide range of major institutional tenants. Given the current dislocation in the market, we believe this is an opportune time to be investing alongside Blackstone in these high-quality and promising assets,” said Helmut Fladt, Real Estate Director for Pátria Investimentos.
This is the second investment Blackstone Real Estate Partners has made in Brazil in partnership with Pátria. In late 2013, the companies acquired 70% of Alphaville Urbanismo, the leading developer of gated residential communities in Brazil.
“We are pleased to make this new investment with our partners at Pátria. It is an important market for us and we will continue to explore additional investment opportunities throughout Brazil,” said David Roth, a Managing Director in Blackstone’s Real Estate group.
Two of the buildings, Visconde de Inhaúma Corporate and Sao Bento Corporate, are located in downtown Rio de Janeiro, and the other two buildings, Americas Corporate (Towers 3 and 4) and Peninsula Corporate, are located in the district of Barra da Tijuca.
According to SailPoint’s 7th Annual Market Pulse Survey, companies around the world have reason to be worried about the use of cloud applications to share mission-critical information: 1 in 5 employees has uploaded proprietary corporate data to a cloud application, such as Dropbox or Google Docs, with the specific intent of sharing it outside of the company. The survey also found a clear disconnect between cloud usage across the business and existing IT controls with an alarming 66% of users able to access those cloud storage applications after leaving their last job. And, despite that 60% of employees stated they were aware that their employer strictly forbids taking intellectual property after leaving the company, 1 in 4 admitted they would take copies of corporate data with them when leaving a company.
SailPoint’s 2014 Market Pulse Survey was designed to measure employee attitudes toward protecting corporate digital assets. The company commissioned Vanson Bourne, an independent research firm, to interview 1,000 office workers at large companies with at least 3,000 employees across Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. With only 28% of survey respondents stating that corporate policies pay close attention to who is granted access to mission-critical SaaS apps, the survey showcases the complex challenge companies face when trying to manage applications outside of IT’s control, as well as the risk of massive security breaches and internal theft faced by companies.
The Market Pulse Survey focused on specific regions to help companies gain a better picture of the progress of security controls around sensitive information. The key findings of employee actions around the globe include:
Employees who have uploaded a sensitive document to share outside their companies via a cloud application (such as DropBox, Box or Google Docs): Australia (11%); France (20%); Germany (17%); Netherlands (13%); United Kingdom (18%); and United States (22%).
Employees who have purchased and/or deployed a cloud application (such as Salesforce.com, Concur, Workday, DropBox, DocuSign, etc.) without the help of IT: Australia (14%); France (14%); Germany (16%); Netherlands (18%); United Kingdom (21%) and United States (24%).
Employees who are aware of corporate policy that pays close attentions to who is granted access to cloud applications with mission-critical data: Australia (24%); France (27%); Germany (28%); Netherlands (24%); United Kingdom (30%) and United States (29%).
Employees who were able to access corporate data via cloud storage applications (including Dropbox and Google Docs) after they left their companies: Australia (56%); France (70%); Germany (70%); Netherlands (61%); United Kingdom (61%) and United States (69%).
Employees who are aware of corporate policies against taking intellectual property when they leave their companies: Australia (68%); France (49%); Germany (58%); Netherlands (57%); United Kingdom (60%) and United States (61%).
Employees who admitted they would take any corporate data when they left their jobs: Australia (21%); France (24%); Germany (16%); Netherlands (15%); United Kingdom (26%) and United States (27%).
“The survey results are an eye opener of how cloud applications have made it easy for employees to take information with them when they leave a company,” said Kevin Cunningham, founder and president at SailPoint. “With almost 20 percent of employees purchasing a cloud application for work without involving the IT departments, combined with the ability for employees to use consumer cloud apps for work activities, it’s virtually impossible to manage access to applications and the sharing of mission-critical data. In order to establish control over this ‘bring your own app’ phenomenon, it’s critical to provide specific incentives for end users to follow corporate policy such as offering users a seamless login experience in exchange for using a central access control framework.”
Henderson Global Investors (North America) announced earlier this month the launch of the Henderson International Long/Short Equity Fund. The Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation primarily through investment in equities of non-US companies and will be fully hedged back to the US dollar.
“The Fund’s value-add stems from our ‘best ideas’ approach to stock selection combined with an unconstrained strategy to invest in all types of equity-related securities,” said Chuck Thompson, Head of North American Distribution at Henderson Global Investors. “This Fund continues Henderson’s tradition of offering US investors differentiated products as it is the first of its kind – the only existing, international long/short ‘stock picking’ fund within its Morningstar category.”
The Fund includes four regional sub-portfolios with a fundamental, bottom-up approach to stock selection and will generally consist of a total of 60-70 positions. The sub-portfolios include Europe, UK, Japan and Asia and are managed by Stephen Peak, Neil Hermon, Vincent Musumeci and Andrew Gillan/Andrew Mattock, respectively.
Our seasoned team includes Stephen Peak, Director of International Equities, and Steve Johnstone, Portfolio Manager who are co-lead portfolio managers of the Fund. In addition to overall management of the Fund, Stephen Peak will be responsible for managing the Europe sub-portfolio while Steve Johnstone will be responsible for the top-down overlay and quantitative risk management of the Fund’s overall portfolio. Fund assets are allocated to sub-portfolio managers who have significant experience with respect to long/short and/or to a geographic region or sector. The Fund has the ability to invest in derivatives for optimal net exposure and risk management.
Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles and Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI) announced the acquisition of 200 East Las Olas (also known as “New River Center”), a 20-story trophy Class A office tower located directly on Las Olas Boulevard in the heart of Fort Lauderdale’s bustling central business district. Developed by Stiles in 1990, this institutional quality asset is currently 86% leased and encompasses 281,713 rentable square feet of some of the most desirable office and ground-floor retail space in the vibrant South Florida region.
The Property was acquired from Invesco Ltd. for $108 million, or $383 per square foot, by a joint-venture between Stiles Property Fund (SPF) and PREI. SPF is a discretionary value-added real estate fund that invests in office and retail properties throughout Florida. PREI, among the world’s largest real estate investment management and advisory businesses, is a business of Prudential Financial, Inc. New River Center was marketed through commercial real estate and capital markets services firm HFF, L.P. Hermen Rodriguez, senior managing director at HFF L.P., led the sale effort along with Ike Ojala, Jorge Portela and Tracey Goo.
“We are proud to once again partner with Prudential Real Estate Investors, one of the nation’s top commercial and residential investment groups,” said president of Stiles Doug Eagon. “As its original developer, we have come full circle with New River Center. Given our deep knowledge of the asset, the property’s upside potential and the robust market outlook, this acquisition fit well with our investment strategy.”
New River Center is positioned on 1.4 acres and includes unparalleled views of the New River and downtown Fort Lauderdale. The property consists of a 12-story office tower above an eight-story parking garage with 675 spaces, as well as nearly 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It is currently leased to “blue chip” tenants, including: Fifth Third Bank; Akamai; Yum! Brands; Brinkley Morgan; and Stearns Weaver.
Following the acquisition, Stiles plans to implement its asset management best practices to drive further upside and additional synergies at New River Center. Stiles Leasing and Management will be engaged exclusively to handle the asset.
“The opportunity for SPF to acquire prime office real estate on Las Olas Boulevard with upside potential made this investment very attractive,” said SPF Fund Manager Kyle Jones. “We are looking forward to executing our business plan and creating further value at the Property utilizing Stiles’ diverse range of services.”
While Stiles has a long history of real estate transactions, New River Center is the first office transaction the Company has made through SPF, which it launched in 2011. Previous SPF acquisitions have targeted retail shopping centers throughout Florida and have included: Ormond Beach Mall, a 102,170-square-foot Publix grocery-anchored center in Ormond Beach; Market at Southside, a 95,135-square-foot center in Orlando; the former PGA Design Center, a 145,500-square-foot mixed-use property in Palm Beach Gardens; and Galleria Plaza, a 29,443-square-foot center in one of the most visible and affluent retail corridors of Fort Lauderdale.
According to Eagon, Stiles remains very active in Broward and especially the central business district of Fort Lauderdale, which is characterized by an urban lifestyle that has helped to drive concentrated growth in the downtown area.
“The 24/7 environment in downtown Fort Lauderdale is contributing to a thriving market with strong employment growth and lower vacancy rates,” commented Eagon. “Most of the new jobs being created are in the downtown urban areas of South Florida, including Brickell Avenue and Coral Gables.”
Stiles track record on Las Olas goes back to 1951 when the company was first established. Stiles has since developed 43 million square feet of real estate throughout Florida and more than 3.5 million square feet of projects in downtown Fort Lauderdale with uses ranging from office and retail to residential and associated parking. Responding to market demand for urban living, Stiles is currently underway with an ultra-luxury 254-unit apartment high-rise one-block from Las Olas Boulevard.
Photo: Dennis Harvis. India’s Prospects Brighter as Modi Gets Serious about Reforms
The Dreyfus Corporation launched earlier this month the Dreyfus Emerging Markets Debt U.S. Dollar Fund, an actively managed mutual fund. The fund’s objective is to seek to maximize total return by investing in emerging market bonds and other debt instruments denominated in U.S. dollars including debt issued from government, government-related and corporate issuers.
“The expanding prominence of emerging economies caused by powerful demographic trends and fundamental improvements has attracted increasing global interest as investors seek enhanced income, growth and diversification opportunities,” said Kim Mustin, BNY Mellon Investment Management’s Head of North American Distribution. “Advancements in the asset class have created distinct investment opportunities for U.S. dollar and locally-denominated debt. We are pleased to add the new U.S. dollar-denominated fund to our existing emerging market debt products, such as the Emerging Market Local Currency Debt Fund and Opportunistic Emerging Markets Debt Fund.”
The Fund is sub-advised by Standish Mellon Asset Management Company LLC, and is managed by Alexander Kozhemiakin, head of the emerging market debt team and senior portfolio manager at Standish and Cathy Elmore, emerging market debt portfolio manager at Standish.
The Fund’s portfolio managers are supported by a dedicated team of traders and research analysts with an average of more than 14 years of industry experience and responsibility for managing approximately $12 billion in dedicated emerging markets assets. The Fund’s managers employ an active investment process that uses in-depth fundamental country and credit analysis. A “top down” analysis of macroeconomic, financial and political variables guides country allocation, while a “bottom-up” analysis of the fundamental measures of an issuer’s creditworthiness guides securities selection.
“We are encouraged by long-term growth prospects and moderate indebtedness of many emerging market countries as well as by business prospects of their companies,” said Kozhemiakin. “In general, we believe the asset class offers attractive risk/return opportunities. However, careful selection of sovereign and corporate opportunities is key, as different emerging market issuers have different credit trajectories.”
“We believe that the Fund will be attractive to investors who are looking for a diversified way to seek to take advantage of quality sovereign and corporate opportunities in emerging markets, without subjecting themselves to the heightened volatility generally associated with local-currency exposures,” Kozhemiakin concluded.
Wells Fargo has tapped longtime Florida banker Kelly Madden to lead Commercial Banking operations in Florida. A Jacksonville resident, she will continue to be based here.
Madden, who previously served as executive vice president for Wells Fargo Commercial Banking in North Florida, will succeed Howard Halle, the longtime Wells Fargo Florida leader who recently announced plans to retire at year-end. Under Madden’s leadership, the North Florida Commercial Banking team, covering 36 counties, grew by more than 50 percent since 2010.
In Florida, Wells Fargo Commercial Banking has grown to 10 offices and more than 140 team members throughout the state, most recently expanding to Gainesville.
“A well-respected part of our Wells Fargo team and the Florida business community, Kelly was the clear choice to succeed Howard,” said Paul Kalsbeek, head of the company’s Southern Division of Commercial Banking. “Her success in North Florida reflects Wells Fargo’s commitment to serving our middle-market customers at a local level where they live and work. Under Kelly’s leadership, we’re poised for continued growth throughout the state.”
Prior to joining Commercial Banking, Madden was the North Florida region president and Retail Bank director for Greater North Florida with Wells Fargo predecessor Wachovia Bank. She began her career at First Union National Bank in 1988, where her positions included commercial sales director, relationship manager, and credit risk review officer.
Madden serves as trustee and past chair of the Gator Bowl Association, member and past chair of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce board, member of the Jacksonville Civic Council executive committee, and advisor for the Baptist Foundation board. She also serves member of and advisor for the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund and the Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute. Madden has been honored with the Women of Distinction award from the Jacksonville Business Journal, the Woman of Influence award from Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., Top Women in Leadership from United Way, and the MS Hope award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) has published new regulations that will make international investing by local investors much more accessible to individual investors.
The two instructions – which broaden international investment limits by local funds, reset the criteria for qualified investors and also create the figure of the professional investor – are seen by the global asset management community as game-changers in their approach to Brazil, since important segment of the onshore market will become addressable – at least after July 1, 2015, when the rules take effect.
1. Via Instruction 539/13, the CVM now allows for natural and legal persons to be considered “professional investors” when they possess financial investments greater than BRL 10 million (USD 3.75 million), while “qualified investors” must possess financial investments in excess of BRL 1 million (USD 375,000). Importantly, the instruction also wipes out onerous rules requiring qualified investors to make a high minimum investment – for example BRL 1 million in a single fund – a non-starter for the wealthy in Brazil.
2. Via Instruction 555/14, which replaces Instruction 409/04 as the regulatory framework governing the creation, administration, operation and information-disclosure of mutual funds, the CVM has extended the limits for overseas investment:
– Equity and fixed-income funds for retail investors: the limit has doubled to 20%;
– Multimarket funds (hedge funds): the limit is kept the same at 20%;
– Funds exclusively designed for qualified investors: the upper limit is set at 40% but can reach 100% if certain rules are observed.
– Funds exclusively designed for professional investors: there is no limit.
The CVM said that investments made in funds under the previous framework need not be redeemed, but the sponsors of the funds observe the new framework when soliciting new investment.
Latin Asset Management anticipates that the rule changes will provoke many global fund managers to establish a local presence in Brazil, and encourage many others to establish distribution relationships with local players. The vehicle of choice appears to be funds of funds, so that it’s likely that many cross-border managers will launch proprietary products allocating to funds investing globally, while others will avoid setting up a local manager and simply seek allocations from onshore Brazilian fund firms.
Photo: Raysonho . Scotiabank Peru to Acquire Citibank's Retail and Commercial Banking Operations in Peru
Scotiabank announced that its subsidiary in Peru has reached an agreement to acquire the retail and commercial banking operations of Citibank in Peru, subject to regulatory approval. The transaction is not material to Scotiabank. Scotiabank’s common equity tier one capital ratio will be impacted by less than 10 basis points.
“We’re excited about this acquisition because it will allow us to deepen existing customer relationships, serve new customers and increase our market share in credit cards and personal loans in Peru,” said Dieter Jentsch, Group Head of International Banking at Scotiabank. “This acquisition is in line with our strategy to increase our scale within the Peruvian banking sector, as well as the other Pacific Alliance economies of Mexico, Colombia and Chile.”
The agreement also includes the transfer of Citibank employees from the retail and commercial banking businesses in Peru to Scotiabank Peru.
Citibank’s Peruvian operation includes eight branches which serve more than 130,000 retail and commercial banking customers. Citibank has been operating in Peru without interruption since 1920 and will continue to operate in the country with a focus on its Corporate and Institutional Banking Business, and International Private Bank Services, capitalizing on its global presence and competitive leadership position in these segments in Peru.
“This agreement with Scotiabank is part of our recent strategic announcement to streamline the Consumer Banking footprint. We are positive that our clients and employees will benefit from Scotiabank’s large consumer footprint and plans for growth in the country,” said Julio Figueroa, Citi Country Officer in Peru. “We reaffirm our longstanding commitment to Peru and our focus on our institutional client businesses including Corporate and Investment Banking, Markets and Securities Services, Treasury and Trade Solutions and Private Banking. Peru is a strategic market for Citi, and we will continue to invest in growing the business.”
On December 11, 2014, an agreement was reached with American Airlines whereby Scotiabank will replace Citibank as American Airlines’ co-branded credit card partner in Peru and provide continuity for current Citi / AAdvantage® cardholders.
Until the transaction gets all the necessary regulatory approvals, all operations, branches, products and benefits programs will continue operating without any change. Over the coming months, Scotiabank and Citibank will work together to ensure a smooth transition for customers and employees.
ETFGI has announced that Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner & Co-founder of ETFGI, is the 2014 William F. Sharpe Indexing Lifetime Achievement Award winner. She was honored at IMN’s 19th Annual Global Indexing & ETFs conference at the JW Marriott Camelback Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 8th. This distinguished award recognizes the most accomplished innovators and practitioners in the indexing industry, and was presented by The Journal of Index Investing.
Deborah is considered one of the leading global experts on ETFs with over 20 years industry experience in financial products, 15 of which have focused on exchanged traded funds and exposures. Currently she is the managing partner and co-founder of ETFGI, an independent research and consultancy firm established in early 2012 to provide analysis on the global ETF and ETP industry. The firm is focused on providing thought leadership, publishing independent research on industry trends, the eco-system, institutional users, products, applications, and competitors, and providing education and assistance to investors on product comparison, asset allocation implementation, as well as offering customised research and consulting.
Prior to ETFGI Deborah was the Global Head of ETF Research and Implementation Strategy at BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors from 2008 to 2011, and was a Managing Director and Head of the Investment Strategies Group at Morgan Stanley for 11 years prior to that.
Deborah commenced her career at Greenwich Associates and has lectured extensively on ETFs and other exchange traded exposures. She has served on several industry bodies and is a consultant to investors, promoters, distributors, stock exchanges, trading platforms and national- and supra-national regulatory bodies.
She was recently named as one of the Top 100 women in European Finance in 2014 by Financial News. She has an MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, and Bachelor of Science from the University of Connecticut.
Previous William F. Sharpe Lifetime Award recipients include Harry Markowitz, William Brodsky, Joanne Hill, John C Bogle, and Robert Arnott, among others.
