Wikimedia Commonsby Colette. "European Markets Have Climbed the Wall of Worry"
Kathleen Dickson, Director in BlackRock in charge of explaining to clients how the team portfolios are positioned talks with Funds Society about her views for the eurozone, claiming that since 2007, European markets have climbed the wall of worry.
During her second visit to Mexico with BlackRock, she mentions that since the bottom in 2009 of European valuations, in euro terms, the eurostoxx 600 has almost risen by 100%, and although current valuations are not as attractive as 12 months ago, the hunt for yield makes them an interesting asset. The Executive mentions that the fact that Draghi put a line under the financial crisis stating that the ECB would do whatever it takes to insure financial security for the eurozone -like buying short duration bonds in the market, an equivalent to Quantitative Easing – as well as the fact that Europe offers 4% yield –the highest yield in developed markets-, and positive earnings growth potential are giving security to investors and have the potential to allow the market to develop positively.
Dickson also commented that when looking at yields as the barometer of risk appetite, the fact that the yields that blew out last summer have gone back to normal is proof that the financial crisis is been dealt with. She mentions that there might be a “turning point in September with the German election but once got through that, with a positive outcome, we could see the market continue to do well”.
Amongst the initiatives she would like to see implemented to further growth are a transmission of lending in order to get money in the real economy, via an increase of lending to small business, and the banking sector repairing their balance sheet, to better solvency.
About her expectations going forward Dickson mentions that she sees positive flows in the future. “Investors are more willing to look at Europe. Europe is cheap, European valuations are trading on a significant discount to the US market”, stating that if investors currently underweight in their European positions come back or move from high yield bonds into euro equity, ownership level will move to a natural balance.
Speaking of their preferences in the market, she highlights consumer discretionary, mentioning their position is neutral on financials and low in utilities and telecom given their low growth and highly regulated environments.
When it comes to choosing a company to acquire positions in, income plays a huge part, and so their portfolios are highly geared toward earnings growth and international earners (50% of MSCI European companies revenues are generated outside Europe). “We are no buying countries, we allocate to companies with earnings elsewhere, like the Industrial sector”. In general looking for opportunities to tap into foreign growth through individual companies.
Kathleen Dickson, with over 22 years of experience in the markets, is in charge of managing the business side of a variety of alpha generating portfolios with over 26 billion usd in assets from a variety of institutional clients like pension funds or insurance companies. Amongst her team’s most popular funds are the BGF European Fund, BGF Euromarkets and the Absolute Return Long Short.
Wikimedia CommonsYves Bonzon, Pictet CIO. "El dólar americano está listo para un aumento constante"
Three different regimes rule the US dollar: depreciation, crisis and secular uptrend. Few investors realise that we have shifted into a secular uptrend regime and this will have consequences on asset clases one should hold in a portfolio of investments. In this video, Yves Bonzon, Pictet CIO, describes the regimes and asset classes to favour at the moment.
Wikimedia CommonsPhoto: William Cho. Henderson awarded Real Estate Fund Manager of the Year
Henderson Global Investors is pleased to announce that Tim Gibson, who manages the Henderson Horizon Asia Pacific Property Equities Fund (“Fund”),has picked up the“Real Estate Fund Manager Award of the Year” from The Asset Triple Investor and Fund Management Awards 2013 this week. The Fund has a top quartile1ranking since inception and over a 3-year period as well asa “3 star” Morningstar rating2.
Speaking about the recent award, Tim Gibson, Head of Property Equities, Asia, says, “This award is a testament to the strong performance delivered by the team to investors. Henderson has built a strong track record of managing Asian property equities since 2001.The Fund offers investors an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to thelong-term prospects of investing in Asian real estate equities.”
The Henderson Asian Pacific property equities team has over 15 years’ investment experience and currently manages US$1.4 billion of assets in Asia-Pacific property equities. The Henderson Horizon Asia Pacific Property Equities Fund that the team manages has a fund size of approximately US$520 million and has received several accolades over the years including:
Winner of Real-estate investment trusts, Asia-Pacific category in Asian Investor Investment Performance Awards 2011
Best over 3 years for Equity Real Estate Asia Pacific Sector in The Edge-Lipper Singapore Fund Awards 2011.
Foto: Miguel Contreras (US Navy). ¿Qué esperar de un proceso de coaching?
Deutsche Bank Depositary Receipts today announced that on June 19 it will be hosting the first virtual investor conference in the depositary receipts industry aimed exclusively at introducing Asian companies to investors primarily in the US. The line-up of its virtual investor conference will include live presentations from several Asia-based companies. Investor Relations Officers from companies based in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia will respond to questions in real-time during formal presentations and will also interact with investors in virtual trade booths. The conference is primarily targeted to the individual retail investor but is also open to institutional investors and analysts.
There is no fee for participants to log-in to attend the presentations and ask questions. Pre-registration is suggested to save time.
Edwin Reyes, Global Head of Depositary Receipts, Deutsche Bank, said, “Deutsche Bank is pleased to be the first bank to hold a depositary receipts virtual investor event of this type with Asia-based companies. Individual investors in the United States are offered unique access to these companies that are based in a different time zone. Deutsche Bank continues to focus on offering innovative ways for our clients to reach new investors.”
Foto cedidaFoto: Marc Faber. Get ready! According to Dr. Doom another crisis is inevitable
Marc Faber, Swiss contrarian investor, argues that another crisis is inevitable. How should investors position themselves? And how can you spot when the asset-price bubble will burst? Robeco has the answers.
Wikimedia CommonsAmerican Outfitters in the Santa Fe Mall. (Business Wire). American Eagle Outfitters Opens Two New Stores in Mexico
American Eagle Outfitters just opened their second store in the Santa Fe Mall of Mexico City, as part of their strategic plan to increase their presence in North America. The store in Santa Fe is located in the third biggest mall in Latin America. Known for its skyscrapers and modern architecture, Santa Fe Mall is surrounded by various universities with a large population of young people influenced by fashion, according to a press release by American Eagle Outfitters.
The first store the company opened was in Perisur, south of the Mexican capital, and is close to being top 20 of the most important stores in North America. The launch of the store in Perisur was dependent of celebrity stars like ABC’s Pretty Little Liar’s Shay Mitchell, Diego Boneta, Aerie, and Sport Illustrated’s Nina Agdal, who celebrated the opening with music by Classix and DJ Linx Linx.
“We are going down the right path with our new growth strategy,” says Simon Nankervis, senior vice-president of American & Global Country Licensing. “We are planning on opening in total six more stores under the company’s property in order to boost the business in profit in the next upcoming years. We are excited for all the success we have received in Mexico. Ever since the launching, we have reached more than a million and a half friends on Facebook, the most we have ever received comparing to our other markets outside of the US. We have a great future in Mexico.”
AEO is planning on opening a series of owned stores and operated by the same companies in Mexico. Each AEO includes Aerie in form of “shop-in-shop” or in form of side to side. The third store of the company will be launched June 7, 2013 in Guadalajara, the second biggest city in Mexico, in the mall of Galerías Guadalajara.
In 2012, American Eagle Outfitters has received licenses to open stores in Japan, Israel, and Poland and will continue increasing their presence around the Middle East. Recently, the company launched their success in the Phillippines, which is also a brand new market. American Eagle Outfitters is now present in 14 countries and also sells items through the internet in an international level involving 81 countries.
The company operates more than 1,000 stores in North America and ships items to 81 countries around the world through their website. The products of American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie are available in around 57 international franchise stores in 14 countries.
OpenGate Capital, LLC, a global private buyout firm, announced today it has sold its remaining investment interest in Models 1, one of Europe’s leading supermodel agencies, to its management team led by Mr. John Horner, Karen Diamond, and Kathy Pryer. OpenGate Capital acquired Models 1 in 2008 and is divesting the business after creating significant new value and increased earnings. No financial terms were disclosed.
Andrew Nikou, OpenGate Capital’s founder, Managing Partner and CEO stated, “The acquisition of Models 1 has been an incredible opportunity to learn about an exciting industry, and to apply investment skills into a business perfectly positioned for growth. Over four and a half years I have been able to guide the management team at Models 1 in the development of new and improved business principles. The combination of the management team’s in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry, and OpenGate’s strategic oversight, yielded growth and increased value including improved profitability and double EBITDA growth.”
OpenGate Capital acquired Models 1 in November of 2008 from Nova Capital Management and the Models 1 management team, and in 2011 the firm sold a majority portion of the business to Mr. Oleg Tscheltzoff. As a result of the investment, OpenGate Capital and Mr. Tscheltzoff yielded two times their invested capital. Going forward, the Models 1 management team will continue to oversee the business and will drive the next phase of the agency’s growth.
Models 1 is an English modeling agency that was founded in 1968 in London, England and has grown to become one of the largest agencies in Europe. Models 1 is at the forefront of discovering, developing and sustaining the careers of many famous models including Yasmin Le Bon, Twiggy, and Rosie Huntington-Whitely. The portfolio of talent includes supermodels Bar Refaeli, Alessandra Ambrosio, Linda Evangelista, Nadja Auermann, Amber Valetta and Agyness Deyn, and male stars Brad Koenig, Noah Mills, Adrian Bosch and Lars. Models 1 gained greater awareness through its partnership with Britain’s Next Top Model, with winners receiving a one year contract for representation with the agency
This epic match will be led by Lionel Messi, one of the most dominant athletes in sports. Messi, who has been recognized as the world’s best soccer player by FIFA four years in a row, stated on YouTube, “I invite you on July 3rd to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to experience an unforgettable match, with the best soccer stars in the world.”
Messi will be joined by 28 of the top world soccer figures including Giovani dos Santos, Javier Mascherano, Robert Lewandowski, Cesc Fàbregas, Gerard Piqué, Robinho De Souza, Sergio Busquets, Sergio “Kun” Agüero and more, promising to be one of the most exciting games of the year.
A press conference will be held on Tuesday, June 11th at 12 noon, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the final line up will be announced, and the official uniform will be revealed.
By Erick Morales. “It is the right time for Mexican investment managers to implement GIPS”
Erick Morales, the Senior Financial Risk Manager at KPMG Mexico, talked to Funds Society about the benefits of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), as well as his vision for the Latin American market and why now is the right time to adopt the standards in Mexico.
Morales will be giving a seminar on GIPS, organized by Riskmathics, at the Sheraton Maria Isabel de la Ciudad de Mexico Hotel on June 13. He stated that the benefits of the implementation would include “continued transparency of client information regarding yields, and maintaining a uniform structure of strategy presentation amongst investment managers”.
The director mentioned that in the more mature countries, after more than 15 years of global implementation of GIPS, “investors themselves avoid entrusting managers without the standard”. Furthermore, he said that he hoped the Latin American region would follow the same line, because reliance on the CFA Institute endorsed standards can give investment managers a competitive edge.
As for the Mexican repercussions of the FATCA initiative of the United States IRS, Morales said that it would not affect the majority of investment managers complying with the national regulations and seeking to adopt GIPS, “because the Mexican entities’ efforts to comply with the regulations have been good.” He further stated, “The GIPS standards even allow foreign investors to seek alternative options in the region and to become more transparent with regard to other regulations”.
Morales believes this is the right time to adhere to the standards, taking advantage of the fact that the adjustments required – to comply with new regulations like the ones concerning sales practices or investment services – are oriented towards the same goal.
Finally, Morales emphasized that the GIPS seminar organized by Riskmathics will help institutions seeking to apply the standards to understand their foundations, to create portfolios and compliance presentations, including the methods required for yield calculation.
For more information or to register for the seminar, click here.
Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today unveiled its new Practice Management Center, a comprehensive resource that offers Pershing’s clients practice management-related content in one user-friendly, central location. In response to client demand, advisors will now have quick access to all of Pershing’s family of practice management materials, including more than 100 pieces of thought leadership, whitepapers, guidebooks and interactive tools on-demand.
“The goal of the Practice Management Center is to give advisors a resource that answers their most pressing practice management questions,” said Maureen Duff, head of global marketing at Pershing. “Through the Practice Management Center, Pershing’s clients can access a broad spectrum of information, tools and research that will help them evaluate all aspects of business development, better understand regulatory mandates and grow their business.”
With the development of the Practice Management Center, advisors will now be able to efficiently research content specifically relevant to their business. All related information will be grouped within each of Pershing’s practice management pillars: growth, human capital, operational efficiency and managing risk. Each will also be assigned to a topic, helping advisors zero in on the resources that are most relevant to their situation. A sampling of content available on the site includes:
Business Development and Planning – Becoming a Stronger Wealth Manager
Recruitment and Retention – The 30% Solution: Growing Your Business by Winning and Keeping Women Advisors
Platform and Workflow – Mission Possible III: Strategies to Sustain Growth in Challenging Times
Compliance and Supervisory Guidelines – Effective Sales Supervision and Compliance
Pershing and its affiliates provide global financial business solutions to over 1,600 financial organizations, broker-dealers, registered investment advisory firms, advisors, fund managers and asset managers who represent over 5.6 million active accounts. Located in 23 offices worldwide.
