James Swanson, estratega jefe de MFS. Los costes unitarios en EE.UU. están detrás del éxito de sus bolsas
US markets have decoupled recently from the rest of the world rising much more, especially against Europe. James Swanson, Chief Investment Strategist at MFS, argues in this video that lower manufacturing costs in the US are behind this performance.
“The biggest expense in manufacturing is labor costs”, emphasizes Swanson. “Unit labor costs in the US are very attractive compared to the rest of the world, even China”, he adds. Secondly Swanson refers to energy costs, which in the US are also falling due to the growth in the shale gas industry. “This is also impacting positively in the cost of manufacturing US goods, adding to growth in the GDP through manufactured exports”, explains Swanson.
A good example of this is the ethylene sector. “Costs in this sector have become so much lower in the US that it is now the most competitive producer in the world”.
By Diego Delso . Blackstone anuncia la adquisición de Strategic Partners de Credit Suisse
Blackstone announced an agreement with Credit Suisse to acquire Strategic Partners, Credit Suisse’s dedicated secondary private equity business with $9 billion in assets under management. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2013. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tony James, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said, “We are thrilled that the people of Strategic Partners are joining Blackstone. Many of us here at Blackstone were once colleagues of the Strategic Partners team, and this gives us high confidence that it will be a seamless cultural fit here at the firm. Strategic Partners complements Blackstone’s existing businesses, and we expect to be able to grow its franchise and help it enter new product areas.”
Alastair Cairns, Co-Head of Credit Suisse’s Legacy Asset Management business, added, “Strategic Partners is a leader in the secondary private equity space. We are pleased to have reached this agreement and are confident that with Blackstone, Strategic Partners will continue to build on its excellent track record.”
The sale is part of Credit Suisse’s strategic divestment plans that were announced on July 18, 2012.
Strategic Partners seeks capital appreciation through the purchase of secondary interests in high quality private equity funds from investors seeking liquidity on a fair, timely and confidential basis. From its start in 2000, it has raised over $11 billion of capital commitments, completed over 700 transactions, and acquired over 1,400 underlying limited partnership interests. Its performance has been top quartile among its peers. Strategic Partners’ team of twenty-six dedicated secondary investment professionals is headed by Stephen Can and Verdun Perry.
Foto: Thomas Bresson. . México, Colombia y Perú ganan atractivo en private equity y capital riesgo en América Latina
The investment climate for private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) in Latin America continued its upward trajectory, with all countries posting positive gains in the 2013 LAVCA Scorecard, released by the Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). The 2013 Scorecard is the eighth edition of the annual ranking and reflects ongoing stability in the regulatory environment across key markets in Latin America.
Both Mexico and Colombia improved their scores as a result of gains on the indicator for entrepreneurship. Latin America has experienced a new generation of start up investing in recent years, and governments in Mexico and Colombia, among other markets, are promoting new programs to support entrepreneurs and venture capital investors.
Peru also saw an important gain in the 2013 Scorecard, with a reform approved last year that lifts restrictions on local pension funds investing in private equity in Peru and internationally. The new regulation reflects a return to a more proactive stance among Peruvian regulators on this issue, and increases the country’s overall score by two points.
There was little change at the top of the rankings, as Chile led the region for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. Chile continues to lead on indicators that are generally weak across the rest of Latin America, specifically intellectual property protection, judicial transparency and the perception of corruption, and posted an increased score on accounting standards that put the country’s overall score on par with benchmark nations Taiwan and Spain.
In Brazil, where a new reporting code aimed at fund transparency went into effect, scores remained stable.
“Governments in major Latin American markets recognize the importance of private equity and venture capital for economic development and are responsive to investor demands for streamlined regulation. With record dollars invested in PE and VC in 2012, we are in a virtuous cycle of new investments, while the overall ecosystem continues to evolve”, said Cate Ambrose, President of LAVCA.
In Central America and the Caribbean scores were generally unchanged, though investor interest in the smaller opportunities presented by these markets continues to grow, prompting local governments to consider improvements in their regulatory environment. The Dominican Republic, where a new administration is tackling corruption, increased its score by three points.
Argentina presents the sole obstacle to progress, as the economy continues to deteriorate, and public policy presents a hostile environment for foreign investors. The country hosts a vibrant start up community, but Argentine entrepreneurs are beginning to look elsewhere for funding and partnerships.
Overall Latin America continues its steady path of growth and positive reform, a positive signal for PE/VC firms eager to invest in the region. As reported in 2013 LAVCA Industry Data, last year a record $7.9 billion was deployed in new investments across Latin America.
Foto: Arnoldius . Apex Fund Services nombra a Elliot Brown managing director para las Américas
Apex Fund Services, one of the world’s largest independent fund administration companies, announces the appointment of Elliott Brown to the newly created position of Managing Director – Americas. Elliott will have responsibility for overseeing the growth of all of Apex’s offices in North and South America.
Elliott was formerly with JP Morgan for 18 years, most recently as the Managing Director responsible for leading the bank’s global hedge fund administration business. Prior to that role, Elliott was in Strategy and Business Development and was instrumental in the formation of the Hedge Fund and Private Equity Fund Administration businesses at JPMorgan. Elliott also worked for JPMorgan in Australia in Relationship Management and Operations. Elliott is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Securities Institute of Australia.
Apex America has recently opened its new offices on East 52nd Street in New York and already offers office space to emerging fund managers as part of Apex’s Emerging Manager Incubation Service (EMIS) launched in February 2013.
“Attracting high caliber people such as Elliott demonstrates the growing recognition of Apex’s potential around the world. Elliott’s addition to the senior management team ensures that Apex now has the right resources in place ahead of its next phase of aggressive growth. Apex remains fully intent on continuing to shake up the financial services industry by introducing innovative services that are designed to bring efficiencies to fund managers and transparency to investors”, said Peter Hughes, group managing director of Apex Fund Services.
By: Felipe Alfonso Castillo Vázquez . Heyman y Asociados Joins Forces With Franklin Templeton Investments in Mexico
Franklin Resources, a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments, today announced that Heyman y Asociados S.C., a leading independent institutional asset manager in Mexico, has agreed to join forces with Franklin Templeton Investments in Mexico, subject to customary closing conditions. Full terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Michel Tulle, senior director for Franklin Templeton Americas stated, “We are excited to be joined by Heyman y Asociados, an established Mexican asset management firm with over 20 years’ experience managing assets on behalf of prominent institutional clients. This transaction permits us to expand significantly our presence in the institutional asset management market in Mexico, and reinforcesour corporate strategy of providing clients with the best investment products in markets such as Mexico, where Mexican asset management experience is important to meeting both global and Mexican investor needs.”
Heyman y Asociados S.C, with managed and advisory assets of approximately USD 1.1 billion as of March 31, 2013, was established in 1985 and specializes in managing pension funds, endowment funds, reserves and treasury funds, for Mexican and multinational corporations, Mexican educational, environmental, healthcare and other non-profit institutions, and for Mexican insurance companies. The team is led by Timothy Heyman, an experienced investment professional with more than three decades in Mexico.
The Heyman team will provide investment management services through Franklin Templeton Servicios de Asesoría Mexico, S. de R.L. de C. V (“FTSAM”), a new institutional investment management subsidiary, of which Timothy Heyman will become CEO. Subject to customary regulatory approval, Mr. Heyman will also become Chairman and a Member of the Board of Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico, S. A. de C.V. (“FTAM”), Franklin Templeton’s mutual fund management company in Mexico.
Franklin Templeton Investments has been present in Mexico for almost 20 years, and its funds have been investing in the country since the early 1980s. In 2005, the company opened its first office in Mexico and its asset management operation, Franklin Templeton Asset Management Mexico, began operations in 2009.
Timothy Heyman was President of ING Baring Grupo Financiero (México), S.A. de C.V., and of Baring, S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, the first foreign brokerage in Mexico. He has been named Emerging Markets All-Star by Global Finance, and was selected first place for Mexican economic, financial and stock market research by Institutional Investor for three successive years. He is the author of eight best-selling books on Mexican investments, the latest being Inversión en la Globalización and Mexico for the Global Investor. He has a BA from Oxford and an MS in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
“As one of the first global investment management firms to establish local asset management capabilities, we have had an enduring presence in global markets for many years,” said Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Local Asset Management Group. “With the addition of Mexico, the group now has locally managed and distributed products in 11 countriesincluding Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.We believe this first-hand, local investment expertise, combined with shared research from across the globe, gives us unparalleled insights into the markets where we invest.”
Universidad de Carolina del Norte. Cuatro universidades se unen para fomentar el análisis de las inversiones en private equity
Scholars from a number of universities have created a consortium for research on private equity. The Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC) will conduct and promote research on how these private capital investments affect both financial results and broader economic issues.
“Historically, researchers who want to study private equity confront a major barrier: high-quality data”
The consortium is particularly interested in the interaction of scholars and industry professionals to improve data on and understanding of private equity. PERC will be housed at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Its formation was made possible by a generous grant from the UAI Foundation, a non-profit foundation devoted to supporting research in finance.
PERC has named its founding advisory board:
Gregory W. Brown , University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Robert Harris , PERC director and University of Virginia, Darden School of Business
Tim Jenkinson , Oxford University, Said Business School
Steven Kaplan , University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
James Bachman , Burgiss, Director
The advisory board charts the consortium’s research agenda and will review applications from academic researchers for access to data available through the consortium in collaboration with Burgiss. Burgiss provides portfolio management software, data and analytics to asset owners investing in private capital. Its solutions streamline the investment process, provide transparency into portfolio holdings, and enable data-driven decisions.
“Over the last two decades, private equity has grown to become an important part of the investment landscape, yet little is known about the industry. Historically, researchers who want to study private equity confront a major barrier: high-quality data,” said Brown, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar and professor of finance at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “Our goal is to help remove that barrier.”
“PERC provides a powerful opportunity to bring together scholars and industry professionals with a common goal: a better understanding of private equity’s effects on both financial results and broader economic outcomes,” said Harris, director of PERC and the C. Stewart Sheppard Professor at Darden.
PERC activities include creating research for publication in academic and practitioner journals, developing and testing data, providing access to data for academic researchers, hosting an annual conference of leading academics and industry professionals, and producing short reports on topics of current interest in private equity. This year’s conference will be held Nov. 22, 2013, at UNC-Chapel Hill.
For information about PERC, access to complete and ongoing research projects, and how to apply for access to data available through the consortium, visit this link.
Foto cedidaSimon Ward, economista jefe de Henderson Global Investors. Henderson: ¿Ofrecerá la renta variable resultados interesantes a largo plazo?
The MSCI World equity total return index in US dollars is within touching distance of its 2007 all-time high, having risen by 131%* from a post-crisis low reached in March 2009. This strong performance, despite a disappointing economic recovery in the Group of Seven (G7) major countries, is attributable to three main factors.
First, equities were attractively valued following the 2007-09 bear market. According to a forecasting model** employed by US economist and fund manager John Hussman, for example, US stocks were priced to deliver a 10-year return of 9.2% per annum (pa) at the March 2009 trough. The prospective return, admittedly, reached much higher levels in the 1970s and 1980s – it peaked at 20.0% in June 1982. The March 2009 forecast, however, was the strongest since 1992.
Secondly, global growth has been respectable since 2009, despite a sluggish G7 recovery, reflecting the rapid expansion and increased weight of emerging economies. The IMF’s world GDP measure, calculated using “purchasing power parity” country weights, rose by 4.1% pa over 2010-12, above an average of 3.4% since 1980. The IMF expects continued respectable growth of 3.3% in 2013. World stock market earnings depend on GDP performance globally rather than in the G7.
Thirdly, the liquidity backdrop for equity and other markets has been unusually favourable since 2009, partly reflecting extreme and unconventional monetary policies. A key liquidity indicator is the gap between the annual growth rates of G7 real (i.e. inflation-adjusted) money supply and industrial production. Faster expansion of real money than output implies that there is “excess” liquidity available to flow into markets and push up prices. This condition has been met in 34 out of 48 months since March 2009.
Applying a similar model to the MSCI World ex US index, for example, suggests a 10-year prospective return of 8.3%
What do these considerations suggest about current equity market prospects? The trend rise in global GDP and corporate earnings should continue to be supported by emerging-world catch-up.
Equity market valuation, however, is now much less attractive than in 2009. According to the Hussman model, for example, US stocks are priced to achieve 10-year performance of only 3.0% pa, well below the historical average. Mr Hussman, therefore, has been suggesting that investors should hold cash rather than equities until an opportunity arises to lock into a less unfavourable long-term return.
Such an argument may be valid for US stocks but carries less force in other markets, where valuation appears reasonable. Applying a similar model to the MSCI World ex US index, for example, suggests a 10-year prospective return of 8.3%.
A further consideration, of course, is the lack of appeal of other investment options – particularly government bonds and cash. The prospective 10-year return of 3.0% pa on US stocks is 1.3 percentage points above the current yield on US 10-year Treasuries*.
Many fixed-income investors, moreover, achieve exposure via funds that maintain a constant proportion of long-term securities rather than buying a 10-year bond to hold to maturity. They are, in other words, exposed to a risk of capital loss if either real yields revert to their historical average or inflationary expectations rise. US equities, in other words, may be priced to deliver a modest return but still appear attractive to bonds.
Valuation is the key driver of long-run performance but shorter-term equity market movements usually reflect the global economic cycle. A strong rally since mid-2012, for example, anticipated a pick-up in economic momentum in late 2012 and early 2013. This pick-up, in turn, was foreshadowed by faster global real money expansion from spring 2012 – the real money supply leads economic activity by about six months, according to the monetarist rule.
Summing up, equities are much less attractive than in early 2009 but are nevertheless likely to outperform cash and government bonds by a significant margin over the long term. Investors seeking to deploy new cash, however, may wish to delay pending a possible economic slowdown later in 2013, which may create a better entry opportunity.
*As of 17 April.
**The model assumes growth in dividends, earnings and nominal GDP of 6.3% pa – based on post-war experience – and mean reversion of the ratio of market cap to GDP over 10 years.
Foto: Mewiki . PIMCO contrata a Laurent Luccioni para gestionar la cartera comercial de bienes raíces en Europa
PIMCO, a leading global investment management firm, has hired Laurent Luccioni as an Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Management–Europe. In this new role, Luccioni will join PIMCO on April 22nd, and he will be based in the firm’s London office, reporting to Dan Ivascyn, Managing Director and Head of PIMCO’s Mortgage Credit Portfolio Management team. PIMCO manages more than $17 billion in alternative investment strategies including hedge funds and opportunistic private equity strategies.
“PIMCO’s global investment platform, deep real estate and mortgage capabilities and intellectual capital enable us to provide a range of investment opportunities for our clients,” said Mr. Ivascyn. “Laurent is an outstanding investor and leader, and he brings to PIMCO significant experience and knowledge of the commercial real estate investment space in Europe and around the world,” added Mr. Ivascyn.
PIMCO has developed and managed alternative strategies for over a decade, including a range of hedge funds, distressed credit funds and opportunistic strategies. More than 75 investment professionals across the firm contribute to PIMCO’s alternatives efforts, including specialist portfolio managers, credit analysts, product managers, and client facing personnel across our global offices. The firm’s alternatives products benefit from PIMCO’s global resources and risk management platform and are managed by specialized teams experienced in alternatives strategies.
Luccioni will be an Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio Management—Europe. He joins PIMCO from MGPA, an independently managed private equity real estate investment advisory company focused on real estate investment in Europe and Asia Pacific. While at MGPA, Mr. Luccioni most recently served as CEO-Europe with responsibility for the firm’s European business, leading a team of 88 people across five offices. Previously he was with Cherokee Investment Partners in Raleigh, North Carolina and London. He began his career as a design and construction engineer. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; a Doctor of Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Ecole Speciale desTravaux Publics, in France
Foto cedidaDibujo de Baldwin Berges (www.baldwinberges.com & www.bd-insider.com), cedido por Popinquity Advisors. ¿Conoces a Bill Gross? A lo largo de los años, yo he conseguido conocerle bien
He is a busy guy and I consider myself fortunate to have regular access to his wit and wisdom. Frankly, considering that he is the co-CIO of one of the world’s largest asset management companies and has such a prominent position in the industry, it has been surprisingly easy to get on his calendar each month.
Relationships developed over a period of years have a way of revealing interesting things about a person, his habits and the way he thinks about the world. As it happens, over the last 15 years or so, beyond his investing prowess, I have also learned some very personal and sometimes not too flattering things about Bill.
So instead of waxing poetic on just how smart Bill is or discussing his views on where markets are headed, I will share a few of his personal stories with you (but please, keep them to yourself – some of this is really embarrassing and should not be for public distribution).
I first met Bill back in the late 1990s. The tech bubble was still in its pumping up phase. Bonds did not have the luster that they do today. What became readily apparent, right off the bat, was that Bill has no qualms about telling it like he sees it. Whether addressing the current state of the economy and the bond markets, politics or the status of his sex life and odd experiences in the bathroom, Bill always says what is on his mind.
Here are some of the things I have learned about Bill through the stories he has told me during the course of our relationship:
1. A charming young lady named “Greedy Greta” Mueller gave Bill a very exciting evening in a parked car in the Los Altos hills in California at the age of seventeen (Bill that is; he never told me how old she was). This was certainly a formative event for him.
2. In his mid twenties, he got into a nasty car crash while driving his Nash Rambler and had the top of his scalp torn off. A plastic surgeon sewed it back on. Without the intervention of the doctor, Bill’s hair would have ‘receded’ and thinned far more quickly than it has over the last 10 years or so.
3. Once, he was invited to the Gate’s residence to meet Bill and Melinda Gates. In his sometimes absentminded way, in the process of introducing himself to Mr. Gates, he extended his hand and said, “Hello, I am Bill Gross, it’s nice to meet you, Mike“. He called Bill Gates Mike! Positively embarrassed, Bill said that he soiled his underwear.
4. Bill peaked sexually at around 20 years old ((seems like Ms. Mueller got (nearly) the best of him – see 1. above)).
5. Bill can’t draw a stick figure, he can’t paint a simple picture or even color within the lines as well as my four year old son can. Apparently (according to Bill) he is missing the right lobe of his brain – I’m not kidding!
6. He got a C- in his CAPM class in business school and just one job offer following graduation. Without any other option he took the offer from what would become the owner of PIMCO. A seemingly lucky course of events (!?) -not exactly the storybook makings of the whiz-bang bond-king he has become.
7. During his military service in Asia during the 1960s, Bill ran a payday advance type scheme taking advantage of the ‘short of cash but need to party’ situation he found his less mathematically adept fellow sailors in. Though he certainly regrets it in retrospect, he said that he had made several hundred percent on some of the short term ‘loans’ he extended to sailors headed ashore for an evening of fun. Think if the Total Return Fund returns 250% in 2013 – investors would crown him as not only Bond King but Global Bond Emperor!
8. If you ever meet Bill at a cocktail party and he says ‘pleased to meet you” he is lying through his teeth. He dislikes cocktail parties and small talk. He has little patience for hearing about other peoples’ kids’ escapades or the challenges of physical ailments. He would rather spend his Saturday evenings sitting at home watching re-runs on television.
I could go on with these stories but you might get the wrong impression.
As many readers will have surmised, these stories are all from various editions of the “Investment Outlook” – a series of monthly essays that Mr. Gross has been writing and distributing to a broad audience for 30 years. Filled with musings about everything from the bond market to the functionality of the modern toilet, the distinct voice of Mr. Gross and his opinions have had a particularly strong resonance with readers for decades.
I have been an avid monthly reader since the late nineties. This is how I have gotten to know Mr. Gross. He has ‘told’ all readers of the Investment Outlook these stories.
Though primarily serious discussions of pressing financial topics, periodically elements of his life experiences (as illustrated above) are used in his writing. These often ‘humanizing’ lead ins give a sense of personal connection to broader and often less tangible topics. He delivers to his readers a true sense of ‘where he is coming from’. He often shakes readers from their traditional framework for addressing a concept and orients them from his own.
But foremost Bill is a terrific investor though he sometimes denies it. In listening to him, he gives one the sense that he is down to Earth and humble – remarkable particularly considering his extensive accomplishments (and unlike many of his contemporaries). He is personable and able to deliver complex ideas about the markets and global economy in a way both clear and accessible- important and rare within the investment community.
I often use Bill Gross and his “Investment Outlook” as a prime example of a tool through which an asset manager can build a relationship with investors. It is a means to not only demonstrate ‘thought leadership’ but also to give investors the sense of one’s humanity (sometimes too coarse for the taste of some). Yes, Bill Gross has sex, goes to the loo, dreads getting old and finds himself in embarrassing situations.
Regular communication of this sort aids asset managers in developing and maintaining robust relationships. It can be the backbone to an informed and committed investor base. It helps to weave confidence and brand loyalty.
A successful communication and client servicing model designed to meet the expectations of sophisticated investors (investment consultants, manager research teams, etc.) must incorporate the ‘voice’ of the manager as prominently as possible. Further, it is a means to standout from the sea of mediocre market commentaries published every month. It is one thing to be good at what you do, it is quite another to be differentiability good.
Further, with thousands of clients spread around the world (like PIMCO has) or dozens (for smaller shops), a PM’s time must be used efficiently and carefully balanced between the portfolio, business management and client demands.
Asset management is a people business. This is particularly evident when looking at the industry from the investors’ perspective. Once the critical but standard due diligence is done on a manager during the selection process, it is largely humanity, in all its flaws, that instills a sense of trust and commitment. These are key elements that imbue the decision process of hiring of an asset manager as the caretaker of one’s money (or, as it is so often the case in our industry, someone else’s). Investors want to ‘know’ their manager.
But with every recipe, there are risks of overcooking. The dangers with this Gross ‘recipe’ are apparent – key man risk and cult of personality (aka “star manager”) being two of the most commonly identified when the voice (and face) of an individual becomes synonymous with a firm.
What might be a greater danger (one that Propinquity has been exploring and experimenting with in its own ‘test kitchen’ of late) is the very validity of the recipe that combines more than ‘a pinch’ of the personal with the professional in this age of (hyper) reality TV, Facebook and Twitter – through which every last detail of a person’s ‘personal’ life might be known.
In fact, what works so well for Mr. Gross is that investor-readers do not know everything about him. There is always something unknown remaining for the reader’s imagination to create for him/her self. Perhaps it is this ‘just enough’ status that, like properly managed Fed monetary policy, is the recipe for success.
(For those interested, there are 20+ years of Investment Outlooks posted to the PIMCO site. I have taken slight liberties to connect the dots of a couple of these story segments – linking them together to make for a larger narrative. I have made every effort to not detract from the spirit of Mr. Gross’s own efforts in the process. I wish him continued success).
[Thanks to Baldwin Berges for his pictorial contribution. Baldwin works with businesses in financial services to help them tell bigger and better stories. His approach is refreshingly insightful as are his collected views. www.baldwinberges.com & www.bd-insider.com]
Skip McGee a la izquierda, Eric Bommensath (arriba derecha) y Tom King. Barclays Wealth Management anuncia cambios relevantes en su dirección estratégica
Subsequent to Barclays’ publication of the outcomes of its Strategic Review on 12 February, the bank has today announced changes to the senior management within Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth and Investment Management, and Barclays’ business in the Americas which will streamline the leadership in these areas and accelerate execution of the Transform Programme to build the ‘Go-To’ bank, said the bank in a statement.
They follow on from the elimination of the global Retail and Business Banking layer in late 2012, and the integration plans in hand to bring together Barclays Africa and Absa in 2013. The changes will also mean the promotion of new talent to the Executive Committee of Barclays.
Details are as follows:
Corporate and Investment Banking
Eric Bommensath and Tom King are appointed Co-Chief Executives of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) with effect from 1 May 2013
Mr Bommensath and Mr King take on these roles in addition to maintaining their current responsibilities as, respectively, Head of Markets and Head of Investment Banking Division
Mr Bommensath and Mr King will join the Barclays Executive Committee on appointment and report to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins
They will share accountability for the leadership and overall performance of CIB, and ownership of the vision and strategy for this part of Barclays’ business
CIB will be structured around client-focused product sets, in keeping with the strategic growth plan for the Investment Bank published on 12 February. Mr King will have specific responsibility for the Banking[1] segment, while Mr Bommensath will oversee the Markets[2] segment.
Rich Ricci, currently Chief Executive of CIB, has decided to retire from Barclays on 30 June 2013, by which time he will have helped to support the establishment of the new leadership team. He will step down from the bank’s Executive Committee on 30 April 2013.
Wealth and Investment Management
Barclays is at an advanced stage in the implementation of Project Gamma and the build out of the wealth platform. This creates an obvious inflection point in the development of the Wealth and Investment Management (WIM) business
The priority going forward will be on working closely with Retail and Business Banking (RBB) and CIB to provide a seamless service to clients as a platform for future growth
Peter Horrell will lead the work on implementation of this priority, and is appointed Interim Chief Executive of Wealth and Investment Management[3] with effect from 1 May 2013, reporting to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins.
Tom Kalaris, currently Chief Executive, WIM, and Executive Chairman of Barclays in the Americas, has decided to retire from the bank on 30 June 2013, and, in the meantime, will work with Peter Horrell to implement a transition to the new priority. He will step down from the Barclays Executive Committee on 30 April 2013.
Barclays in the Americas
Barclays’ business in the Americas is of critical strategic importance to the bank. Already the largest source of income, outside of the UK, it represents strong growth potential. There is a clear need for even more effective execution of Barclays’ operations in the region in order to capitalise on opportunities presented through greater cross-working and collaboration between our businesses. Additionally, we want to have the strongest possible relationships with our US Regulators. Accordingly:
Skip McGee is appointed Chief Executive, Barclays Americas with effect from 1 May 2013
Mr McGee will join the Barclays Executive Committee on appointment and report to Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins
He will be the senior executive in the Americas, with geographic responsibility for all of Barclays’ businesses in the region, including CIB, Barclaycard and Wealth and Investment Management
As the primary public-facing executive in the Americas, he will also lead Barclays’ regulatory engagement for the region
Mr McGee will also continue to lead some of our most valuable client relationships, and he will remain a member of the CIB Executive Committee.
