Hotel Isla Morada (Florida), Trust Hospitality. . EXAN Capital and Trust Hospitality Join Forces to Fuel Growth in New York and Miami
The asset management company, EXAN Capital, has reached an agreement with Trust Hospitality, a company with over 25 years experience in the hospitality industry, allowing it to extend its capacity and growth rate to be able to align their interests with those of investors through the opportunities presented in the market for hotels.
For EXAN Capital, a comprehensive real estate services platform focused on the commercial sector which is headed by Juan José Zaragoza, this partnership consolidates an important branch of its platform and strategically positions them within the hospitality industry in such important and competitive markets as Miami and New York.
Trust Hospitality, which is based in Miami, is a leading player in its sector, especially within the boutique hotel segment and primarily in Miami and New York. Its objectives are co-development and management, and it operates a portfolio of over 30 hotels in the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America.
“Our company offers a comprehensive service to clients and investors in the world of hotels. Our extensive experience and flexibility in project structuring, management, and operation, has allowed us to participate, operate, and structure many operations in various national and international markets. We are hoteliers, it is what we do, what we know, and what has fascinated us for over 40 years,” explained Richard Millard, chairman and CEO of Trust Hospitality to Funds Society.
Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz). Fibra Macquarie designa COO a Juan Monroy, que seguirá fungiendo como jefe de Adquisiciones
Macquarie Mexican REIT (MMREIT) has announced the appointment of Mr. Juan Monroy as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Monroy currently serves as MMREIT’s Head of Acquisitions and will maintain those responsibilities in his new role.
“I am pleased to welcome Juan into his new role,” said Jaime Lara, Chief Executive Officer, MMREIT. “Juan has been an integral part of our senior management team since MMREIT’s listing. He brings to the new role an in-depth understanding of the Mexican real estate market, as well as a background in both acquisitions and operations, making him the ideal candidate for the position. I look forward to his continued contributions.”
Mr. Monroy has 14 years of real estate investment and development experience. Prior to joining Macquarie, he was a partner in real estate investment platforms focused on residential and retail real estate development, primarily in Mexico City. He was former director of acquisitions at Acadia Realty Trust, a vice president of international operations at Loews Cineplex Entertainment, and a private equity professional at Onex Investment Corp.
Mr. Monroy received his BA in Business and Finance from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) where he graduated with honors. He received his MBA from NYU Stern Business School and completed the Real Estate Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Foto: Thomas Pintaric. Apollo compra una cartera de 18 hoteles en Europa a Ivanhoé Cambridge
Apollo European Principal Finance Fund II, a fund affiliated with Apollo Global Management today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of a portfolio of 18 European hotels from Ivanhoé Cambridge. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“This sale brings to a conclusion a long-term investment for Ivanhoé Cambridge, and we are very pleased with the transaction process.”
The investment includes hotels located in Austria (1), Belgium (1), France (1), Germany (11), the Netherlands (2) and Spain (2) operated under the IHG brands of Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Holiday Inn Express.
“This transaction is in line with our strategy of rationalizing our overall hotel exposure and reinvesting our capital in our core asset classes and in key markets globally,” said Sylvain Fortier, Ivanhoé Cambridge’s Executive Vice President, Residential, Hotels and Real Estate Investment Funds. “This sale brings to a conclusion a long-term investment for Ivanhoé Cambridge, and we are very pleased with the transaction process.”
Commenting on the transaction, Roger Orf, a Partner of Apollo EPF II as well as Head of Apollo European Real Estate, said, “This acquisition builds on the strong foundation of successful investments Apollo’s funds have made in the hospitality sector for nearly two decades. Over the past several years, the first Apollo European Principal Finance fund acquired and successfully realized gains on investments in several large European hotel properties through non-performing loan transactions. It’s our view that the European market will continue to generate opportunities in the hotel and other commercial property sectors which are consistent with our strategy of focusing on complex and illiquid situations where we can work with sellers to provide solutions. We are pleased to have been able to build upon our strong relationship with Ivanhoé Cambridge to make this transaction a success and look forward to collaborating on other projects in the future.”
JLL brokered the transaction. Hogan Lovells provided legal counsel to Ivanhoé Cambridge and Ashurst LLP was legal counsel for Apollo on the transaction.
Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Apollo had assets under management of approximately US$161B as of December 31, 2013, in private equity, credit and real estate funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources.
Ivanhoé Cambridge is a world-class real estate company that leverages its high-level expertise in all aspects of real estate including investment, development, asset management, leasing and operations, to deliver optimal returns for its investors. Its assets, held through multiple subsidiaries and located mainly in Canada, the United States, Europe, Brazil and Asia, totalled more than Cdn$40 billion as at December 31, 2013. Its portfolio consists mainly of shopping centres, office and multiresidential properties. Ivanhoé Cambridge is a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers.
StepStone Group LP, a leading global private markets firm, has announced that it has opened its first Latin American office in São Paulo, Brazil, and that the Firm has named Duncan Littlejohn and Bruna Riotto, both formerly of Paul Capital in Brazil, as Partner and Vice President, respectively. Their appointments are effective May 1, 2014.
Mr. Littlejohn and Ms. Riotto will be responsible for the Firm’s investment activities in Latin America, including reviewing primary, secondary and co-investment opportunities, and leading research efforts. They will also handle client development in Brazil and the wider Latin America region.
“These strong additions to our team and office expansion allow us to enhance our global coverage of the private markets,” said Monte Brem, CEO of StepStone. “Investors, including institutions and family offices, increasingly want access to private markets opportunities in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, which has the largest economy and population in the region. As our clients increase the capital they deploy there and Latin American clients look at global opportunities in alternative investments, we are pleased to be able to offer a full-service local presence.”
“We welcome Duncan and Bruna to the StepStone team,” added StepStone partner Jose Fernandez. “With talented and experienced Brazilians heading our new office, we will be well-positioned as we continue to invest in Latin America and serve our clients based in the region. We believe in building local teams with deep expertise in the markets in which we operate and we are sure that strategy will serve StepStone and its clients well in São Paulo.”
Mr. Littlejohn, 60, a 25 year veteran of the private equity industry in Latin America, joins StepStone from Paul Capital, where he had led the firm’s Latin American efforts since 2008. Previously, he was a Partner of BPE Investimentos and its predecessor, Brasilpar, a Brazilian primary private equity fund manager, which he joined in 1995. Prior to that, he worked in executive roles for companies such as AVM Auto-equipamentos Ltda, Pirelli Fintec Ltda, S&W Berisford (UK) Group, and Productos Ecuatorianos (Prodec). Mr. Littlejohn holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the boards of multiple portfolio companies, non-profit organizations, ABVCAP (the Brazilian private equity and venture capital association), and on various Latin American private equity fund advisory boards.
Ms. Riotto, 29, also joins StepStone from Paul Capital, where she had been since 2010. While at Paul Capital, Ms. Riotto was involved in all aspects of diligence, including company research, valuation, portfolio analysis, and transaction structuring. Previously, she worked as a financial analyst within the M&A team at Grupo Stratus. Ms. Riotto began her career with the Financial Controller team at Siemens. She earned her BBA with a concentration in Finance from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, where she was also a member of the University’s consulting team.
Foto: Kevin Hutchinson. La corrección de las acciones USA
The Chief Executive Officers of 6 of the leading companies in Mexico will be presenting at the 4th Annual Mexico Day Investor Luncheon on Monday, May 12, 2014 from 12:00pm – 2:30pm at the New York Stock Exchange. This year’s event will focus on the leaders of the Mexican economy, those heads of companies who, via their ideas, talent and dedication, have shaped Mexico’s financial markets and redefined the concept of business in the region.
Presenting at Mexico Day 2014 will be:
Mr. Alonso Quintana Kawage, CEO of Empresas ICA (NYSE: ICA, BMV: ICA)
Mr. Fernando Bosque, CEO of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (NYSE: GAP; BMV: PAC)
Mr. Alejandro Valenzuela del Rio, CEO of Grupo Financiero Banorte (BMV: GFNORTE)
Mr. Jose Manuel Contreras, CEO of Grupo Senda Autotransporte
Mr. Luis Barrios, CEO of Hoteles City Express (BMV: HCITY)
Mr. Alberto Chretin, CEO of Terrafina (BMV: TERRA)
Other companies participating in the event include:
America Movil (NYSE: AMX; BMV: AMX)
Alpek (BMV: ALPEK)
Coca-Cola Femsa (NYSE: KOF; BMV: KOF)
Consorcio Ara (BMV: ARA)
FEMSA (NYSE: FMX; BMV: FEMSA)
Genomma Lab Internacional (BMV: LAB)
Gentera (BMV: GENTERA)
Grupo Carso (BMV: CGARSO)
Grupo Financiero Inbursa (BMV: GFINBUR)
Grupo Sanborns (BMV: GSANBOR)
Televisa (NYSE: TV; BMV: TLEVISA)
Industrias Bachoco (NYSE: IBA; BMV: BACHOCO)
The luncheon will be held at:
New York Stock Exchange
2 Broad Street, 7th Floor Main Dining Room
(security checkpoint at corner of Wall Street & Broad Street)
New York, NY 10005
After the luncheon, the participating companies will be available for group investor meetings at BNY Mellon’s offices. Registration and Picture ID are required for entry. To register for the investor luncheon or group meetings, please visit.
This event is sponsored by NYSE Euronext, BNY Mellon and i-advize Corporate Communications, Inc. and is open to investors and analysts at no cost.
For more information, please contact Melanie Carpenter at Tel: 212-406-3692 or mcarpenter@i-advize.com
Artemis Investment Management announces the proposed launch of the Artemis Pan-European Absolute Return Fund – subject to regulatory approval.
The new Artemis Pan-European Absolute Return Fund will be managed jointly by Tim Steer and Paul Casson, and is based on the Artemis Pan-European Hedge Fund strategy (formerly Artemis UK Hedge Fund), a Cayman Islands-domiciled vehicle managed by Tim since 2009. When Paul Casson joined Artemis in April 2013 from Henderson, the Cayman fund broadened its opportunity set to include Pan-European equities.
“Tim and Paul have extensive experience of investing in UK and continental European stocks. They use a fundamental bottom-up approach to stock analysis, coupled with a proprietary screening tool, and have generated good annualised absolute returns for investors”.
While exact timings have yet to be decided, it is expected that the new fund will launch in Q3 2014, initially for Sterling investors. Multi-currency share classes should become available in Q4 2014, allowing international investors to access the fund. At first two GBP share classes will be made available: R class with 150bps AMC and I class with 75bps AMC. Subject to a high watermark, a performance fee will apply.
Commenting on the launch, Richard Pursglove, Artemis’ Head of Retail said: “We are delighted to bring this strategy to a wider audience. We are doing so in a UCITS fund for the first time, and in a sector that continues to be popular with our clients.”
Foto: JKleeman. Condoleezza Rice dará el pistoletazo de salida a INSITE 2014 de Pershing
Rapid advances in technology, a generational sea change from Boomers to Millennials, and the emerging prominence of women advisors as a competitive differentiator are just a few of the ways in which advisors and broker-dealers are being challenged to reimagine and retool their businesses. These and other mission-critical developments will be explored over three days at INSITE 2014, the annual event for registered investment advisors and broker-dealers hosted by Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company. This year’s conference will take place June 4-6 in Hollywood, Florida.
The unprecedented changes underway in the advisory business constitute a “call to action” that industry participants must respond to – or risk ending up behind the competitive curve. Among these imperatives, which have shaped the agenda for INSITE 2014:
Investor appetite for innovative products and services tailored to their particular stage in life and demographic category is stronger than ever. As a result, advisors must serve their clients more effectively while running their businesses more efficiently. Delivering a new generation of highly integrated, scalable technology-based solutions that meet or exceed client expectations is central to Pershing’s mission.
Advisors must embrace the impact of Millennials as they succeed their more senior Boomer counterparts. Unless they develop and deploy practices that support this ‘changing of the guard,’ they will squander the opportunity to launch their businesses into this new era.
The continuing expansion of women as material earners in the workforce, combined with a major wealth transfer in the coming decade, has placed advisory firm principals on notice. Strategies that recognize the positive impact of women advisors on best practices and the bottom line will be rewarded in the coming decade.
“Pershing’s commitment to supporting the success of our clients and their investors requires us to maintain a solid foundation for growth based on best-of-breed technology and innovative solutions,” said Caroline O’Connell, chief strategy officer at Pershing. “INSITE 2014 will provide advisors and broker-dealers with highly relevant, content-rich programming empowering them and their clients to succeed and grow in what is shaping up to be the most challenging and exciting era the industry has seen.”
Drawing on the broad success of last year’s conference, INSITE 2014 will bring together global thought leaders who will address in practical terms the issues that are redefining and driving today’s industry agenda, including:
The Dawn of a New Technology Age for Advisors: Insights into the strategies, people and processes needed to harness emerging technologies in today’s global advisory business. Sessions will highlight ways in which advisors are leveraging integrated data management, reporting and technology solutions to deliver distinctive, investor-centric services, including the enhanced NetX360 platform, the newest developments from Albridge Wealth Reporting and new NetXInvestor portal.
Financial Solutions:Sessions focusing on Pershing’s new Retirement Plan Network, FundVest 200, the Pershing Turnkey Managed Account offering and Fully Paid Securities Lending.
Business Growth: Pershing’s latest research shows that organic growth can yield six times greater ROI than traditional recruiting. Rich, interactive discussions will center on effective practice management founded on consultative, consistent and connected client and investor relationships.
Today’s Top Regulatory Concerns: Dual registrants…Conflicts of interest…Safety of assets…Custody issues…. INSITE 2014 attendees will delve into the unprecedented regulatory and compliance challenges confronting RIAs today.
New Perspectives – Alternative Mutual Funds as an Investment Solution: An exclusive panel will discuss the continuous growth of alternative mutual funds—also called liquid alternatives or alternative ’40 Act funds—and how Pershing can help access these solutions through consultative guidance. It also will cover the helpful tools for clients who wish to actively manage long/short allocations.
In addition to valuable opportunities to network and learn first-hand from industry leaders as well as peers, INSITE 2014 attendees will enjoy featured presentations from a stellar list of speakers, including:
Condoleezza Rice, who served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first African American woman to hold the post, and as National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush, the first woman in that role, will deliver the keynote address.
Joe Torre, Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball, who earlier led the New York Yankees to four World Series wins during his 11-year span as manager, will share his leadership insights.
As part of BNY Mellon’s corporate social responsibility program, Pershing is proud to support FEED at INSITE 2014. Throughout the first two days of INSITE 2014, attendees will have the opportunity to put together food backpacks to benefit a local South Florida food bank. In addition, each attendee will receive a FEED conference tote bag. For each bag gifted, 10 meals will be provided to children globally. This tote bag sale is part of FEED’s mission to “create good products that help FEED the world.” Each FEED bag, apparel item, and accessory sold has a set donation built into the cost of each product, which provides meals and micronutrients to children around the world.
INSITE 2014 is expected to attract more than 2,300 attendees, including investment professionals, independent RIAs, dually registered and hybrid advisors as well as senior-level product and marketing executives. It will be held at The Westin Diplomat, Hollywood, Florida. For additional information and to register online, please visit www.INSITE2014.com. To keep up-to-date on INSITE 2014 and to join the conversation on the issues that will be discussed, follow us on Twitter @Pershing and use hashtag #INSITE2014.
Ken Taubes, director de Inversiones de Pioneer Investments para Estados Unidos. Fed’s Inflation Target Misguided? Good vs. Bad Disinflation
For more than a year the Federal Reserve Board has cited inflation below its targeted 2% level as one justification for maintaining its extraordinarily accommodative monetary stance. As of February, the core inflation rate was 1.1%, based on the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) inflation series, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. But there is good reason to question whether the 2% target justifies current policy.
What’s Driving Inflation Lower?
Today’s low inflation is taking place in an economic environment that is far different from the conditions that triggered falling prices during the Great Recession in 2007-2009. Those declines occurred as a result of severe debt contraction, a downward spiral in asset values across nearly the entire economy and a global banking crisis. The Fed’s actions to offset these damaging conditions were exceptionally timely and successful, and conditions are now the exact opposite. Values across a broad array of asset classes have seen significant appreciation, and many key economic sectors are exhibiting healthy competition and growth.
Good vs. Bad Disinflation
There is a difference between “good disinflation” and “bad disinflation.” Looking deeper at the inflation data over the past several years reveals that disinflation is the result of a variety of factors, including technological progress, new efficiencies in business models and strengthening competition. Let’s look at the commodity sector, one of the weakest areas within the inflation reports. Technology has had a tremendous impact on energy costs over the past few years. With horizontal drilling techniques and fracking, vast amounts of newly recovered U.S. oil and gas have been brought into production. We now produce so much oil & gas that we are considering changing laws so it can be exported once again. Energy CPI grew 0.4% year-over-year, and was an even lower -1.6% a year ago.
Time for the Fed to Correct Course
I don’t understand the Fed’s stance on these lower prices. Aren’t technological progress, new efficiencies in business models and processes drivers of economic progress? The truly worrisome deflation we should be concerned about is driven by asset price declines. When home values fell during the recent recession due to a confluence of unaffordable prices, poor underwriting, increased jobless rates and high leverage, they had a systematically disruptive impact on consumers, the financial system and the overall economy. When asset value and resulting debt value declines broadened beyond the residential housing market to most other sectors of the economy, the result was one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression.
We are clearly not in the debt contraction/asset price downward spiral that we faced during the recent recession. The reality is quite the opposite. I, for one, hope the Fed begins to distinguish the “good” disinflation from the “bad”, as I sense the markets have begun to enjoy the easy money party for a bit too long.
Analysis by Ken Taubes, director de Inversiones de Pioneer Investments, US.
NEPC, one of the industry’s largest independent, full-service investment consulting firms to endowments and foundations, has made public the results of its Q1 2014 NEPC Poll, a measure of endowment and foundation confidence and sentiment related to the economy, investing and market performance.
“Our survey found respondents feeling much more confident in the economic outlook, with fully 75% noting the economy is in a better place now than it was this time last year,” said Cathy Konicki, Partner and Head of NEPC’s Endowment & Foundation Practice Group. “Overall confidence is reflected in more than half of endowments and foundations polled saying the markets will show high single-digit returns and their strong conviction that equities, both US and emerging markets, will be the top performers in the year ahead.”
Despite overall confidence in the markets, 50% of respondents noted that a slowdown in global growth poses the greatest single risk to investment performance, a moderate decrease from the 60% who gave the same answer in Q4, 2013. “Rising interest rates” (19%) replaced last quarter’s “US budget deficit / government shutdown” as the second greatest concern, and “Fed tapering” (13%) followed in third place, displacing concern about rising interest rates seen last quarter.
On the investment front, U.S. and emerging equities, followed by international equities, are believed to be among this year’s top performers by 60% of endowments and foundations.
Confidence in equities aside, there appears to be continued migration of capital from traditional equity and fixed income strategies to non-traditional assets. Only 4% of respondents indicated they are planning to increase exposure to domestic equities, while 81% indicated they are planning to allocate the same or more to hedge funds, specifically focusing on the multi-strategy, credit-linked and event-driven spaces.
Private equity continues to be among the top alternative investment picks of endowments and foundations: 38% of respondents (vs. 32% last quarter) plan to increase their allocation, and 34% are keeping their private equity investments level with last year. Specific sub-categories of private equity investments favored by respondents were split at 25% each between buyouts / growth equity, direct lending, and secondaries.
NEPC’s Q4 2013 survey noted that 41% of respondents planned to allocate more to real assets in 2014. In the current survey, when asked which real assets were their top choices, 34% said real estate, 24% selected energy, and 8% picked precious metals (specifically gold, gold mining and silver).
On April 29, 2014 the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (“ALFI”) and the Luxembourg Association of Risk Management (“ALRiM”) hosted its fifth edition of the ALFI & ALRiM Risk Management Conference. Practitioners demonstrated the industry’s continuing support to Asset Managers looking to key risk requirements of both UCITS and AIFMD proving Luxembourg’s long track record of being a business friendly, highly expert and competitive jurisdiction for both UCITS and Alternative Investment Funds.
Luxembourg was amongst the first jurisdictions to both accept applications and grant authorisation to Alternative Investment Fund Managers under the Directive. In Luxembourg there have been 26 AIFM authorisations on the CSSF’s list with a further 16 approved that have yet to be added to the list. 191 have so far applied for authorisation in Luxembourg (figures as per April 9th 2014).
With Luxembourg’s position as the European leader in cross-border fund distribution, ALFI and ALRiM expect that the implementation of the AIFMD will further enhance Luxembourg’s leading position as a domicile for fund and management companies in the alternative sector.
This year over 250 European Risk Managers, Conducting Officers and Experts turned up to hear more about the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) from local and international experts who discussed the implications and opportunities associated with AIFMD. The ALFI & ALRiM Risk Management Conference has established itself as an important forum where Risk Managers, Conducting Officers and Experts from all over Europe and beyond gather and exchange information and ideas about risk governance, measurement, management and reporting in the areas of both UCITS and Alternative Investment Funds.
This year’s morning session focused on operational risks within UCITS and AIF Management and on the rules set by a series of related CSSF Circulars and elaborated what impact the new reporting obligations for alternative investment fund managers may have on risk management and how these reporting principles can be applied to the wide range of strategies in the context of AIFMD.
In the afternoon, participants could choose between a selection of interactive workshops focusing on leverage, the implementation of risk management systems for real asset funds and on counterparty and credit risk, where they have the opportunity to discuss practical aspects in smaller groups. Each workshop session was held twice in order to allow participants to attend two of the three workshops on offer.
After the workshop sessions, a panel of European industry experts compared recent trends in risk management in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany. The conference day was concluded by the panel discussion “first experience gained” since the entry into force of the AIFMD.
At the occasion of this conference, ALFI has published, in association with ALRiM, new risk management guidelines on:
* Operational Risk Management within UCITS. The aim of these Guidelines are to present best practice proposals for the management of Operational Risk and to assist Board members and senior management in the development of their risk management process;
* Guidelines on Risk Management under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”).
The ALFI guidelines on Risk Management under AIFMD are complemented by the ALFI Q&A “Risk Management for AIF under AIFMD”. The Q&A shall be regularly updated with additional questions to cover key aspects of Risk Management activities under AIFMD including, e.g., aspects in relation to key risk categories as well as governance/delegation topics.
