Wikimedia Commons. El equipo de Inversión de MFS se moviliza para ayudar a familias de bajos recursos de Boston
A team of MFS volunteers recently took part in a group build day with Habitat for Humanity. At a construction site in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, more than 85 employees from MFS’ Equity, Fixed Income and Quantitative Solutions investment groups used paint brushes and power tools to help bring a set of townhouse units closer to completion. Once complete, the homes will be occupied by local families needing decent and affordable housing.
Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Sparkx 11. La escasez de talento es la mayor amenaza para el crecimiento del sector financiero, según PwC
Research from PwC has found that FS CEOs view talent shortages as the biggest threat to growth. The report, Seizing back the people agenda, also suggests that current models for people management are unsustainable in the face of new market realities and that rebuilding trust and re-engagement with employees and customers is needed.
Findings include:
A combination of technology, new capital demands and the economic situation are transforming customer expectations and making once-profitable areas of business unviable.
More than 80 percent of financial services leaders see over-regulation as a threat to growth while more than half are concerned about the shift in customer spending and behavior.
Half of financial services CEOs believe that a lack of trust in the industry is holding back growth.
Rebuilding trust with disenchanted customers is going to be vital in order to strengthen customer loyalty, retention and growth – the number one strategic priority for industry leaders.
Re-engaging with customers is going to be extremely difficult without re-engaging with employees and the challenge is heightened by the extent to which trust between employers and employees in the industry has been shaken by retrenchment and organizational upheaval.
Significant changes required in organization culture, including demonstrating and reinforcing the right behaviors across all front and back office functions and geographies.
Bhushan Sethi, PwC’s financial services people & change practice leader said: “Rather than actively shaping the people strategies that financial institutions need to move the business forward, many are reacting to immediate pressures. But the upheaval in the marketplace and challenge of re-engaging with customers and staff are making the need to regain control of the people agenda ever more pressing. To get their people strategy onto the front foot, executives need to know what the new objectives for the business are and what people strategy components are needed to support and deliver them.”
Limited availability of skills are biggest threat to growth
Sethi continued, “Addressing these questions will make sure businesses are more likely to have the right people, with the right skills and motivation to contend with the new market realities and take the business forward. Underpinning this will be a clear statement of why people would want to work for the business, which is capable of attracting and retaining talent without simply relying on pay.”
Rebuilding reputation
There is significant disillusionment with the financial services industry. For many people in the industry, this antagonism has created a ‘them and us’ mentality that is suspicious of change and reluctant to re-engage with those from outside.
The reputation of the industry is also making it difficult to attract talent. A global PwC survey of college leavers coming into the workforce found that more than 20 percent would no longer even consider a career in financial services because of its image. Jobs with meaning and interest are a key attraction for this millennial generation.
A new employee value proposition
A considerable amount of the employee value proposition within financial services has been built around financial reward. But the sharp falls in returns since the financial crisis mean that there simply aren’t the funds to sustain the old levels of compensation. Nonetheless, more than 70 percent of financial services CEOs say that they have to match the pay of peers to retain top talent. These pay pressures need to be balanced with the returns to satisfy shareholders and fund investment for growth.
Further strains are coming from stakeholder pressures being put on how organizations set rewards – nearly 40 percent of financial services CEOs are changing the way they set executive reward in response to shareholder and public reaction. These demands are leading to a huge and complex overhaul of reward policies, with significant implications for the balance of fixed, variable and deferred pay and the governance, communication and employee engagement procedures that surround this. Supporting the organizational reputation by requiring employees to live up to expectations on behavior and accountability should be a key aspect of the reward package.
“A culture of integrity, customer focus and risk-awareness is critical in re-engaging with customers and rebuilding confidence in the industry. There are clear competitive advantages for getting this right including better targeting of products, stronger reputation and more effective retention of key people,” Sethi remarked.
He added, “Pay is still important, but not at the expense of everything else. There needs to be a more viable balance between risk and capital demands, employee reward and the returns needed to attract investment and fund future growth.”
Foto cedidaBill McQuaker, Head of Multi-Asset & Deputy Head of Equities Henderson Global Investors. Financial markets: against all odds a good period
It’s the beginning of the second quarter and it seems like quite a good time to look back and review what’s happened in financial markets over the last two or three quarters and to look forward into the spring and summer months.
In terms of the period gone by, perhaps against all odds it’s been a good period for financial markets. There have been good results from equities but other asset classes have performed well and the driving force behind that, in our view, has been once again activity from the world central banks. The second half of 2012 was characterised by a lot of policy in the US, in Europe with the OMT and then, towards the tail end of the year, in Japan with the surprise elections and change of guard at the Bank of Japan.
We’ve seen investors embrace particularly European equities for the first time in a while
And it was those things that really energised particularly equity markets and drove strong performance. The impact has been quite considerable in terms of portfolio positioning. We’ve seen investors embrace particularly European equities for the first time in a while and cash has moved into equities in a more meaningful way than we’ve seen for a long time but also into bonds. We don’t believe that the great rotation that’s been talked about has really gotten underway. There hasn’t been selling of bonds but rather a move into both bonds and equities.
In terms of where all that leaves us, our expectation is that the second quarter may well be a period of consolidation for markets. The policy that I described as characterising 2012 is not going to be as noticeable in the US. It’s likely that the discussion will probably revolve around when and whether the Federal Reserve is going to start to wind down quantitative easing. In Europe the likelihood is that there won’t be much in the way of fresh initiatives from the ECB.
Perhaps in Japan we’ll see a bit more but in the main policy’s going to be less of a dynamic than it has been for markets and that means that, with prices having risen a fair way, some of the wind is going to be taken out of the sales. I think, increasingly the markets’ attention is going to be paid to the growth side of the equation, looking for evidence of decent global growth, of stabilisation in global growth and there we don’t have particularly bright expectations but nor are we especially bearish. The world has muddled through for the last few years on the growth front and we think that’s likely to continue to be the picture.
What does that mean in terms of portfolio positioning? I think the temptation is to back away a bit from the equity market. We suspect that might actually be a mistake; despite the issues I’ve described on policy and growth front we don’t believe there are likely to be renewed fears of recession. We think that in Europe the crisis is going to continue in this chronic rather than acute phase and that’s a backdrop against which investors, we think, will continue to be interested in yield and searching for yield. That leads them almost inevitably to certain parts of the equity market and towards the higher-risk end of bond markets. We think that trend may well continue into the second quarter.
So in aggregate, perhaps a flat quarter or a modest up-market in risk assets and equities in particular but within equity markets the leadership, we think, may continue to come from areas that offer yield, areas that offer some robustness in terms of business models and security of growth and perhaps areas of the world where policy’s going to be a little more accommodative, a little more stimulative than elsewhere.
Wikimedia CommonsClaude Monet. BBVA Compass y Christie´s anuncian una alianza
BBVA Compass announced a new partnership with Christie’s that combines the bank’s financial capabilities with the auction house’s expertise in collectible assets — and will bring rarely seen pieces of art to the bank’s clients in a series of exclusive events.
“We’re a bank that appreciates the importance of art, indeed the value of art, and many of our clients do as well,” said Manolo Sanchez , BBVA Compass president and CEO. “This new relationship is our way of bringing Christie’s expertise to them in a useful and sophisticated way.”
To kick off the partnership, BBVA Compass and Christie’s will co-host a private event in Dallas this evening that will feature paintings by Claude Monet , Camille Pissarro , Berthe Morisot and remarks by Pissarro expert Dr. Richard Brettell . Until now, the works have been held in private collections. They’ll be up for auction in May and could again disappear from public view.
The relationship between Christie’s and BBVA Compass, a subsidiary of Spain-based BBVA Group, draws synergies from the similar hallmarks of each: international reach and client service. For its part, BBVA has a strong presence from Mexico to Argentina.
“This new relationship brings together two organizations with a global presence and exceptional client service,” said Stephen Lash , chairman emeritus of Christie’s. “While our initial work together will begin in the U.S., there is clearly an opportunity to work together in Mexico, Latin America and beyond.”
The partnership will be especially useful to the bank’s clients who need financial advice on managing “treasure assets,” such as fine art, antiques, wine, classic cars and jewelry. A recent report by Deloitte found that wealthy individuals hold an average of 9.6 percent of their total net worth in such assets, which require precise documentation for insurance purposes and estate planning.
“This new partnership will enable our organization to more broadly serve our clients by directly leveraging Christie’s subject matter experts,” said Bill Helms , head of Wealth Management at BBVA Compass, referring to Christie’s experts in more than 40 categories of collectible assets. “It’s our responsibility to provide clients with the best advice possible and that’s a solemn trust our Wealth Managers have dedicated their careers to providing.”
As part of its commitment to supporting the arts, BBVA Compass recently provided funding for the “Chagall: Beyond Color” exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. The bank has also sponsored other high-profile exhibitions, including one at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that featured the largest collection of art ever to leave Spain‘s Prado museum.
About BBVA Compass
BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 708 branches, including 367 in Texas, 93 in Alabama, 79 in Arizona, 65 in California, 45 in Florida, 38 in Colorado and 21 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 20 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading Small Business Administration lenders and ranked third in American Banker’s 2012 reputation study of the leading 30 banks in the U.S.
Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Mauricio Mercer (Curitiba, Brasil)
. Ashmore registra su fondo de deuda turca y el de equity brasileño en Luxemburgo
Ashmore Investment Management Limited (“Ashmore”), one of the world’s largest specialist managers of Emerging Market (“EM”) debt and equity securities, with assets under management of US$77.7billion* today announced that its Turkish Debt Fund and Brasil Equity Fund have been registered as SICAVs. The funds will now be available to institutional and retail investors.
The Ashmore Turkish Debt Fund targets total return through active management of a diversified portfolio of Turkish debt and other instruments. The fund invests primarily in Turkish local currency sovereign bonds, supplemented by corporate debt.
The Ashmore Brasil Equity Fund is an actively managed long only fund investing in Brazilian equities and equity-linked instruments. It aims to outperform the MSCI Brazil index by adopting an active management style that combines dynamic allocation via bottom-up stock picking approach, which is complemented by Ashmore Group’s top-down views. Allocation is focused on liquid stocks although less liquid names may be added to the portfolio where the investment case is compelling.
Both Turkey and Brazil offer interesting opportunities for investors.
Turkey’s attractive public debt to GDP ratio compares well to the fundamentals of the HIDCs (“Heavily Indebted Developed Countries”). Furthermore, developing corporate bond markets offer opportunities for yield enhancement.
Brazil’s ongoing infrastructure investment plan, together with strong domestic consumption driven by the secular growth of the middle class offers attractive opportunities.
Both funds will continue to provide long term capital growth and remain available to institutional investors.
Commenting on the announcement, Christoph Hofmann, Ashmore’s Global Head of Distribution said:
“Ashmore has a 20 year track record of investing in Emerging Markets. The Turkish Debt Fund and Brasil Equity Fund were previously available in other jurisdictions. Our decision to redomicile these funds to our Luxembourg SICAV is part of our ongoing strategy to make our funds available through easily accessible vehicles. There are exciting investment opportunities in Turkey and Brazil and the SICAV funds bring our expertise in EM to a broader audience.
“The fund broadens the range of Ashmore’s Emerging Markets SICAV product offering which includes debt and equity themes, now available to investors through Ashmore’s comprehensive Luxembourg SICAV platform.”
The two SICAV Funds are open-ended, UCITS IV Luxembourg registered funds, offering daily dealing. They are registered for sale in Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK and available in share class denominations in US dollars, Euros, UK sterling and other currencies.
Wikimedia CommonsJaime Pérez-Maura y Cristina Benavides. Foto cedida por Allfunds Bank. Allfunds Bank nombra a Jaime Pérez-Maura director de Desarrollo de Negocio
Allfunds Bank has appointed Jaime Pérez-Maura as the new Business Development & Sales Planning Director. In this new role, he will be responsible for the development of new business in Europe and Far East, managing global key accounts. Jaime will now report to Gianluca Renzini, Chief Commercial Officer at Allfunds Bank.
Communication and Market Intelligence responsibilities will remain under his supervision, but will no longer be involved in the Investment Solutions area, area where he has worked since he joined Allfunds Bank thirteen years ago.
New Investment Solutions Head
The Investment Services Department will remain divided into two areas, Investment Research and Investment Solutions. Both report directly to Juan Alcaraz, Allfunds Bank’s CEO, due to their major relevance within the platform.
The Investment Research area is headed by Enrique Pardo and comprises one of the largest teams of fund analysts in Europe with analysts located in London and Madrid. The Investment Research team is responsible for fund research and selection covering all asset classes with a highly sophisticated research approach, matching all the needs of top institutional fund investors.
The Investment Solutions area, formerly led by Jaime Pérez-Maura, will now be led by Cristina de Benavides who has been promoted to Global Head of Investment Solutions. The Investment Solutions team includes 10 investment professionals around the world, taking care of the relationship and fund selection service delivery to a vast number of institutional clients on the platform. Cristina, formerly Head of Product Specialists, has more than ten years of professional experience, all within Allfunds Bank. Cristina’s work has always been related to fund investments both in Madrid and Milan offices.
Platform enhancement
By promoting Jaime and Cristina to their new senior roles, Allfunds Bank aims to benefit from their vast experience in the industry and their knowledge of the company in its quest to become the global leader in Fund Open Architecture solutions.
Jaime Pérez-Maura
Jaime Pérez-Maura has more than 13 years of experience in the industry. He joined Allfunds Bank in 2000 as a fund analyst and was quickly promoted to Head of Fund Selection. In 2008 he was named Director of Investment Consulting. Jaime has been involved in fund area since the inception of the platform; promoting and designing most of the enhancements that have made fund research a core service to the Allfunds Bank’s institutional client base.
Cristina de Benavides
Cristina de Benavides has more than 10 years of experience in the industry, with an extraordinary career as an investment professional at Allfunds Bank. While she spent most of her time in Madrid, she spent several years in the Milan office, actively involved in the definition of the fund selection proposition in Italy since the local office launch.
Foto cedidaBy Edgar Carmona/MPPRE. Chavismo to continue in Venezuela
The much awaited presidential election for Venezuela to select the replacement of the dangerous and volatile Marxist Hugo Chavez is over. But this was not an ordinary election. One candidate, Nicolas Maduro, trained in Cuba and a member of Chavez inner circle was hand picked by both the deceased dictator and his Cuban allies, was challenged by the governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, who had considerable democratic support.
At the time of the writing of this editorial, it appears that the Chavistas have once again found a way to remain in power. It is not clear if there is to be a challenge to reports of irregularities in the voting process.
What is certain is that Maduro will continue to take Venezuela down the path of violence and poverty, violating the political and civil rights of all who oppose tyranny and of course will continue to financially support with petrodollars the regime of Raul Castro. At the end of the day, the communist government of Cuba is the real victor. Cuba has been a key player in Venezuelan politics for the last fourteen years; Venezuela gives $4 billion in oil for free to the island nation so it is in Havana’s best interest to ensure that Maduro remains in power.
It is well documented that Cuba sent a number of agents, 2,500 according to the Spanish newspaper ABC, to manipulate the election in favor of Nicolas Maduro. Already Cuba has thousands of agents disguised as medical doctors in the country to ensure that the Castro regime remains in control of the government in Caracas. Sadly, it appears that this will be the case.
Henrique Capriles fought a tough fight but faced the Cuban forces coupled with the political, economic and military interests of the Chavistas in power. The ghost of Chavez, the sympathy vote of those who mourn him was strong. Stronger must be the will of the Venezuelan people who must continue to fight for democracy especially against the foreign interference of the Cuban regime that will stop at nothing to help Maduro remain in power. Venezuela is a victim of that treachery.
Wikimedia CommonsFoto: Ahmed Isse Haji. Los centros financieros del futuro en mercados emergentes
Nearly 40% of the centers included in the Global Financial Centers Index ranking are located in emerging markets. Since these markets gain prominence in the global economy and financial world, GFCI conducted a separate online questionnaire focusing on emerging markets. They asked respondents to indicate which regions they think are most likely to succeed in developing their financial services industry in the next three to five years:
Respondents indicated that China and South Korea would lead the way in Asia/Pacific though they voiced some concerns around currency controls and political stability in China;
In the Middle East/Africa, Qatar and the UAE would appear to have best prospects, followed by Turkey;
In Eastern Europe, Poland seems to be the country to watch most closely;
In Latin America, financial centers in Brazil made good ground in GFCI 13 and are likely to rise further.
GFCI also asked respondents to name their most important considerations when looking to invest in emerging markets. “It is not surprising to see that the most quoted dimensions include regulation, macroeconomic stability, levels of corruption, openness and competitiveness as well as political stability”, emphasizes the survey assessment.
Telegraph. Mexico now has a company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index
Walmart de México y Centroamérica, which has participated in the Sustainable IPC Index of the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) for two years, is now the first and only Mexican company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index.
According to a press realease, Scot Rank, Executive President and CEO of Walmart de México y Centroamérica commented: “Our vision is to contribute to improve the quality of life of the families in Mexico and Central America. We treasure the relation that we have with our Associates, Stockholders, Clients, Suppliers and the Communities where we operate and will keep on working as a socially responsible company. We want our operations to bring as many benefits as possible to our society.”
TheDow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index offers investors a tool to measure the performance of the 69 companies considered as leaders in corporate sustainability. Walmart de México y Centroamérica was selected from among 800 companies from 20 countries.
Mexico’s Stock Market sustainability index (IPC Sustentable) is a list of 29 companies out of 70 evaluated, that outstand the national average on the scores of environment, social responsibility and corporate governance, and that also complied with percentage criteria of floating shares, market floated value and minimum liquidity required.
Foto: Mary Ann Reitano
. El sector público y privado abordarán la situación en los mercados emergentes y maduros
The IIF is pleased to host the 2013 Roundtable on International Capital Markets and Emerging Markets. The Roundtable brings together public officials from both mature and emerging market economies, leaders from the private financial sector, and representatives from international financial institutions.
Participants will discuss economic reform and regulatory policies at the global, regional, and country levels that are critical for sovereign debt crisis prevention, which is a fundamental objective of the Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring.
This high-level, by-invitation event is organized under the auspices of the Group of Trustees of the Principles. The 2013 Roundtable is generously sponsored by State Street Corporation and Tudor Investment Corporation.
