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Opus Fund Services opens a new office in New York

Opus Fund Services, an independent full-service fund administrator, today announced the expansion of its US platform with the opening of its New York office. The Park Avenue location will initially focus on business development and will be headed by the new Director of Sales and Business Development, Jorge Hendrickson.

Jorge previously worked at Concept Capital Markets, LLC in its Prime Services Group as Vice President of sales and business development. Prior to Concept he worked for five years on the buy side, most recently at Trading Cross Connects, specializing in allocating capital and infrastructure services to emerging managers. He was previously at Intrepid Capital Management and Bridgewater Associates.

Barclays hires 16 for the Wealth and Investment Management division

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“We are pleased to welcome these talented individuals to Barclays,” said Mitch Cox , Head of Wealth Management, Americas for Barclays. “The addition of these seasoned Investment Representatives demonstrates our continued focus on serving the sophisticated needs of our clients across the Americas. These hires underscore our commitment to attracting top-performing professionals who seek Barclays unique, in-depth approach, of guiding clients to customized solutions that extend far beyond their investment portfolio.”

New York

Ramon Hache joins Barclays as a Managing Director from Deutsche Bank’s Markets Coverage Group, where for 10 years he served high net worth individuals and family offices based primarily in Latin America. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Hache was an Investment Advisor at HSBC and a Sales Trader in the Private Banking division of JP Morgan. Mr. Hache holds a BS from Marist College.

Stephen Brazell joins Barclays as a Director from Deutsche Bank’s Markets Coverage Group where he served high net worth individuals and family offices based primarily in Latin America. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in 2004, Mr. Brazell was the Head of Private Bank Emerging Markets desk at JP Morgan. Mr. Brazell holds a BS from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire.

Joseph Chung joins Barclays as a Director from Deutsche Bank’s Markets Coverage Group where he advised ultra high net worth clients based in Latin America. Prior to joining the Markets Coverage Group, Mr. Chung worked in the Private Wealth Management division at Deutsche Bank, which he joined in 2003.

Steven C. Guggenheimer joins Barclays as a Director from Merrill Lynch’s Global Wealth Management division, bringing with him over 26 years of wealth management experience. Most recently, Mr. Guggenheimer was a Senior Vice President at Merrill Lynch, where he served high net worth individuals. Prior to this, Mr. Guggenheimer was a Managing Director at Neuberger Berman. He holds a BA from Haverford College.

George M. Zaki joins Barclays as a Vice President from Merrill Lynch’s Global Wealth Management division. Most recently, Mr. Zaki was a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch serving high net worth individuals. Previously, he was a Client Associate at Neuberger Berman. Mr. Zaki holds a BA from Fairmont State University.

Jonathan Mann joins Barclays as a Director from AllianceBernstein bringing with him more than 29 years of industry experience. Previously, Mr. Mann was responsible for the overall management of Bernstein Global Wealth Management’s New York Region and was a Senior Portfolio Manager for Bernstein’s International Value Team. He holds a BA from Rutgers College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Mann serves on the Board of the American Friends of the Open University of Israel.

All six Investment Representatives report to Mark Stevenson , Managing Director and Regional Manager for New York.

Houston

Don Childress , CFA joins Barclays as a Director from the Private Wealth Management division of Goldman Sachs, bringing more than 14 years of experience serving high net worth clients and families. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Childress spent five years in the Tax Accounting and Investment Banking divisions at Price Waterhouse LLP. He holds a BBA from Baylor University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jeff Collins also joins Barclays as a Director from the Private Wealth Management division of Goldman Sachs, bringing more than 15 years of wealth management experience. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Collins worked in Real Estate Development at Austin Capital Partners. He holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Neil Stone also joins Barclays as a Director from the Private Wealth Management division of Goldman Sachs, bringing more than 14 years of experience serving high net worth clients and families. Previously, Mr. Stone worked in the Investment Banking division at Prudential Securities and in Loan Syndication at Texas Commerce Bank, Chemical Bank. He holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and serves on the board of Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.

This team of Investment Representatives in Houston report to Steve Head , Managing Director and Regional Manager for Texas.

Beverly Hills

Watt W. Webb III joins Barclays as a Director from BNY Mellon where he was a Senior Director – Portfolio Management serving ultra high net worth families, executives, hedge fund managers, and business owners. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Mr. Webb was a Senior Vice President – Equity Research and Portfolio Management at Oakwood Capital Management LLC, and Portfolio Manager at Cornerstone Investment Counselors, Inc. He holds a BA from Cornell University, an MA from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Warren Cohn joins Barclays as a Director from US Trust bringing with him over 20 years of industry experience. At US Trust, Mr. Cohn was a Senior Private Client Advisor providing a variety of wealth planning and financial management services to clients within the entertainment and sports industry. Previously, Mr. Cohn was a Senior Director in the Private Wealth Management Group at BNY Mellon. He holds a BA from The George Washington University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

Mr. Watt and Mr. Cohn report to Brian Sears , Managing Director and Regional Manager for the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills offices .

Los Angeles

Adam Morgens, CFA joins Barclays as a Vice President with over eight years of industry experience. Mr. Morgens joins the organization from the Institutional Sales division of UnionBanc Investment Services LLC, which is the broker-dealer subsidiary of Union Bank, N.A. Serving as a Vice President at Union Bank, he developed and managed relationships with institutional and middle market fixed income portfolio managers. Prior to working in institutional sales, Mr. Morgens traded all aspects of fixed income for the broker-dealer, including corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities and municipal bonds. He holds a BS from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.

Mr. Morgens reports to Brian Sears , Managing Director and Regional Manager for the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills offices.

Boston

Barry Pederson joins Barclays as a Director, bringing with him 20 years of financial services experience. At his predecessor firms, Morgan Keegan , Sterne Agee & Leach and A.G. Edwards , he was a partner on the institutional sales and research teams. Before entering the financial services industry in 1993, Mr. Pederson played twelve seasons, 1980-1992, of professional hockey in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Hartford Whalers. He is also a studio co-host for the New England Sports Network’s (NESN) Boston Bruins television broadcasts.

Mr. Pedersen reports to Marty Courage , Managing Director and Regional Manager for Boston.

Chicago

Adam Strauss joins Barclays as a Vice President from the Private Wealth Management Division of Goldman Sachs where he served high net worth individuals and families. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2010, Mr. Strauss was a Managing Consultant at Michael Page International. He holds a BS in from Denison University and an MBA from The University of Iowa.

Mr. Strauss reports to Bill Scherr , Director and Regional Manager for Chicago.

Miami

Ileana Platt joins Barclays as a Director from the Private Banking division of Credit Suisse bringing with her more than 24 years of wealth management experience. At Credit Suisse Ms. Platt was a Director serving high net worth individuals and families in Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, and Panama. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Ms. Platt was a Vice President at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation and worked for the US Private Wealth Management division of Citibank. She holds a BBA and an MBA from Florida International University.

Rafael Urquidi also joins Barclays as a Director from the Private Banking division of Credit Suisse where he served high net worth clients and families. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Mr. Urquidi held positions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Co. and UBS International. He holds a BS from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

Ms. Platt and Mr. Urquidi report to Marilyn Gonzalez , Director and Regional Manager for Miami.

With 14 offices across the U.S. including the Barclays Wealth Trustees (U.S.), NA., the Wealth and Investment Management division of Barclays provides comprehensive wealth management to high net worth individuals and families. Barclays focuses on understanding its clients’ financial needs, personal aspirations and risk tolerance in order to design and implement highly customized investment solutions.

Eagle Production Inc, ready to bring its new fund to investors

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How did the fund started?

After years of working on individual prospects focused on the Permian Basin, and through that process creating a large inventory of prospects, Eagle Production Inc (EPI) has reached the critical mass of “going public”. The fund is a way to take EPIs expertise and experience to the next level of oil and gas production and to add value for all our investors. This process has also been aided by recent technological advances in reservoir research, plus drilling and completion technology, including fracking.

What is your investment process?

First, EPI is currently high-grading prospects, adding to prospects based on economic and geological analysis, and drilling wells with existing partners. With the fund, the process is that EPI is making these investment opportunities available to a wider range of investors looking for alternative low risk high return options. The fund structure provides security and transparency, with a proven methodology, and clear exit strategy.

What is your investment universe?

The fund will work with accredited investors only, but that said, all investors looking for low risk, high return alternative investments would be suitable.

What is the business strategy of the group for the coming months?

This is clearly defined in the fund documents. In the coming months EPI will begin to lease up the priority high-graded prospects in inventory, then begin a systematic drilling program that is scheduled to produce 250 BOD (Barrils of oil per day) within 12 months.

Do you plan to launch new products, what type?

The current EPI Fund is $120 million in four closings. Once this is complete, yes, we will be launching similar additional products.

What is your management philosophy?

EPI focuses on a developmental drilling program, meaning working in proven areas where our geological expertise and experience produces a high success rate in terms of drilling commercially successful oil and gas wells. We believe in good science, careful evaluation, building high-graded prospects to add to our inventory, then developing those to critical mass of at least 1,000 BOPD production, and divesting within year 4.

How is structured the investment team? How many professionals do you have and how decisions are taken?

A combination of geologists, engineers, financial analysis, and comprehensive economic modeling allows us to decide on the best approaches, structures and deal selection.

What is the fund’s assets?

Oil and gas lease holds and producing properties. The current fund has a maximum of $120 million.

What risk management systems do you used?

All projects must meet internal risk management criteria, which is part of the 80% success rate of developmental drilling. Any prospect not capable of meeting this model is not considered. We also have a 4 to 1 ROI guideline and minimum pay-out in 24 months or less.

In what kind of environment the strategy performs better?

In the environment today in the Permian Basin. This is the optimum time and conditions are improving as the technology continues to improve. We like our economics in the $70-$100 per barrel range. (Currently above market expectations at $95.96)

Does the fund have a capacity limit? $120 million

How was the performance so far? Expectations? Profitability for the next 12 months? Fund is just starting, but based on our past experience, we expect to reach at least 250 BOD in 12 months, which is about $500,000 per month. ROI 62%-83% per year with an annual growth rate of 42%

Henderson: Could Europe be getting better?

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Henderson: ¿Podría estar mejorando la situación en Europa? — Tim Stevenson. Henderson: Could Europe be getting better?

There has been a remarkable swing in sentiment on European shares, which have recouped a fair amount of the previous underperformance against the US market and also against bonds. I am sure many are asking whether this trend can continue – so here is my view as a European fund manager.

I will restrict my comments to Europe – with the one exception that the excellent weekly publication ‘The Economist’ made recently regarding the USA turning European. The point is that the USA is now having to face up to the same issues about debt levels as the Europeans have been wrestling with for the last five years, and the postponement of the Fiscal Cliff/debt ceiling debate by two months means the issue will be topical again very soon.

But in the meantime, there is clear evidence that European economies have at least stopped getting worse, and may perhaps begin to look a little better later in 2013. During Mario Draghi’s most recent press conference he pointed to a number of positive developments; namely, “Bond yields and countries’ credit default swaps (CDSs) are much lower, stock markets have increased and volatility is at an historic low”. He went on to highlight some of the lesser known improvements – “We are seeing strong capital inflows to the euro area. The deposits in periphery banks have gone up. TARGET2 balances have gone down. The size of the European Central Bank’s balance sheet, which is often considered as a source of risk, continues to shrink. So, all in all, we have signs that fragmentation is being gradually repaired.”

The picture is still far from euphoric however, with greater stability yet to filter through to the real economy – unemployment is still high and with growth likely to remain low, debt reduction will take years to achieve. The recent small improvement in sentiment indicators could lead to a self-fuelling virtuous circle of better growth as companies utilise some of the large cash piles they have available, and take advantage of historically low funding rates. An example of this is SAP – whose management looks like it will announce a good order book for their new systems as companies realise they need the best software to operate most effectively. Recent stimulus plans by China and Japan also show that Asia may trigger better growth. So, all in all, I think we can be reasonably confident at this early stage that global growth will be slightly better in 2013 than it has been in previous years.

This means that earnings should be able to make a small advance in most European companies this year. So while the performance of last year was totally due to the excessively over sold and cheap level of European equities (as we discussed many times with mostly sceptical clients), this year should see markets progress due to better earnings. Any further expansion of ratings of European markets would need a quite enthusiastic switch away from more expensive areas such as the US equity market. More likely is that we will see a switch from bonds – where the large flow of money in recent years has resulted in a number of ‘bubble’ characteristics. We have maintained for over a year now that in the view of us European equity managers, many European bonds look way too expensive, and that a switch from bonds to equities was justified.

It could be that there has started to be very early agreement in this argument, and if that is the case, the flow back towards equities could be large and last some time. This reinforces our view that European equities look attractive still at current levels, and since a consolidation is entirely likely after such a rapid rise, any weakness is likely to be met by renewed buying interest.

Invesco: Mark Armour will replace James Robertson as head of EMEA

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Invesco: Mark Armour reemplazará a James Robertson en la dirección de la región EMEA — Wikimedia CommonsPhoto: GammaCygni. Invesco: Mark Armour will replace James Robertson as head of EMEA

Invesco has announced that James I. Robertson will relinquish his duties as senior managing director and head of EMEA (which includes the UK, continental Europe and the Middle East) due to health reasons, and will retire on December 31, 2013. In an 8-K document filed with the SEC, Invesco signals that it expects Mr. Robertson will leave the Board of Directors of the company at or before his current term expires in May 2013. Mr. Robertson will work with his successor, G. Mark Armour, to ensure a smooth transition in leadership of the Company’s EMEA business.

Mr. Armour has been an executive with Invesco since September 2002 when he joined Invesco as the chief executive officer of Invesco Australia. Mr. Armour also served as the head of sales and service for Invesco’s institutional operations. Mr. Armour has served as a senior managing director and head of Invesco Institutional since January 2007. He was Chief Investment Officer for ANZ Investments and Chief Executive Officer of the National Mutual/AXA Australia Group from 1998 to 2000.

UBS Launches Global Family Office In The Americas

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UBS announced the expansion of its Global Family Office (GFO) to the Americas region, completing the firm’s implementation of a strategy to extend its GFO business to serve clientele across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The GFO is a joint venture between UBS Investment Bank and UBS Wealth Management, focusing entirely on family offices with institutional-like profiles and requirements. With this expansion complete, UBS now offers GFO expertise in seven primary hubs: Zurich, Geneva, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and New York.

“The expansion of the UBS GFO into the Americas marks a significant capstone to our strategy to bring our full firm to bear, globally, in support of large institutional and professional family offices around the world,” said Robert McCann, CEO of UBS Americas and CEO of UBS Wealth Management Americas. “The result is a platform that responds to the highly tailored, complex needs of our global family office clients, in all markets where we do business.”

The UBS GFO places at its core a select group of financial advisers who have experience and training in working directly with GFO clients. In addition to providing access to UBS’s experts in its Wealth Management, Investment Bank and Prime Services divisions, the GFO features the following services globally:

Comprehensive global services with complete transparency to the GFO’s service team, including direct contact with UBS bankers, traders, specialists and sales teams*
Fully customizable and consolidated real-time reporting of holdings, balances, margin and risk profiles for assets held with UBS and elsewhere
Access to UBS research to provide intelligence on current investment trends
Family advisory services, including governance frameworks, governing bodies, corporate advisory, management platforms, asset holding structures, business succession plans, a young successors program and philanthropy strategies
Exclusive peer network of other UBS Global Family Office clients to share knowledge and identify potential new business opportunities

“The launch of GFO in the Americas allows us to be the only family office provider to combine institutional-level service and access with the holistic wealth management advisory services we supply across the firm,” said Juerg Zeltner, CEO of UBS Wealth Management. ”It is a powerful testament to the business strategy we have set out globally, and an important step in delivering the full breadth of our intellectual capital and resources to our clients worldwide.”

Morningstar reports estimated U.S. mutual fund asset flows through December 2012

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Long-term open-end funds saw inflows of $243.2 billion in 2012, according to Morningstar. Money continued to flow out of actively managed stock funds and into all manner of bond funds, with yields across many fixed-income sectors either at or near all-time lows. Since the end of 2008, assets in taxable-bond funds have more than doubled, climbing from $1.1 trillion to $2.5 trillion, with approximately 65 percent of the increase attributable to net inflows. When municipal-bond funds are included, inflows for fixed-income funds have exceeded $1.0 trillion since the beginning of 2008.

Additional highlights from Morningstar’s report on mutual fund flows:

2012 outflows from actively managed U.S.-stock mutual funds surpassed those seen in 2008 despite the fact that the S&P 500 was up 16 percent for the year. Even when exchange-traded funds are included, large-cap U.S.-stock funds have seen net outflows over the trailing five-year period and in each of the last four years.
Intermediate-term bond funds attracted the greatest inflows of any Morningstar Category for the fourth year in a row, taking in $109.9 billion in 2012. This was almost three times the inflows of $37.5 billion seen by the runner-up, short-term bond.
Vanguard and PIMCO captured 61 percent of net inflows in 2012, compared with 30 percent in 2011 and 46 percent in 2009.
DoubleLine Total Return Bond, which has a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Neutral, tallied 2012 inflows of $19.6 billion to edge out Gold-rated PIMCO Total Return, which collected $18.0 billion, for the year’s greatest open-end fund inflows. The inclusion of BOND, the ETF incarnation of PIMCO Total Return that saw inflows of $3.8 billion in 2012, would move Bill Gross into first place in terms of overall inflows.

Apex wins $1 billion client following approval to service UK authorised funds

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Apex Funds Services incorpora una cartera de 1.000 millones de dólares a sus fondos administrados — Mapa con las oficinas de Apex en todo el mundo. Apex wins $1 billion client following approval to service UK authorised funds

Apex Fund Services, one of the world’s largest independent fund administration companies, announces that WAY Fund Managers, the UK provider of fund hosting services to the wealth management sector, has selected Apex to service all of its 47 funds with combined assets under management of over $1 billion.

Having received UK regulatory approvals, Apex is one of a few global fund administrators with the capability to provide services to UK managers with both UK authorised and offshore funds in the same location.

As part of a collaboration agreement, Apex and WAY Fund Services are to begin cross selling each other’s services. Apex will introduce clients to WAY Fund Managers’ platform and at the same time offer its Order Management System (OMS) and Portfolio Management System (PMS) technologies to WAY clients.

KKR Appoints Jorge Fergie to Head Brazil Efforts

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KKR today announced that Jorge Fergie is joining the firm as Managing Director to head its São Paulo, Brazil office and business development in Brazil, effective March 1, 2013.

“As one of the world’s largest economies, Brazil is an important area of growth for KKR. Jorge Fergie is a great leader for our business and we’re confident he will further enable us to find and act on good opportunities for our investors.”

In this role, Jorge will work with KKR’s global investment teams and KKR Capstone, operational improvement experts who work exclusively with our portfolio companies, to lead KKR’s investment activity in Brazil.

Henry Kravis and George Roberts, Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers of KKR, stated: “As one of the world’s largest economies, Brazil is an important area of growth for KKR. Jorge Fergie is a great leader for our business and we’re confident he will further enable us to find and act on good opportunities for our investors.”

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Fergie spent nearly 29 years at McKinsey & Company (“McKinsey”) where he was instrumental in establishing McKinsey’s business in Brazil and throughout Latin America. He is a seasoned executive who has served as an advisor to governments and leading Latin American and multinational companies, supporting them in major transformational programs, including identifying and implementing operational improvements, restructurings and privatization programs. He most recently led the Private Equity practice at McKinsey in Brazil and Latin America. Prior to that he led the Media and Telecom practices and worked in a wide variety of key sectors of the economy.

“We are very excited to have Jorge join us and work with Henrique Meirelles to continue building our business in Brazil. Jorge’s deep strategic and operational expertise and history of helping companies achieve their ambitions fits well with our investment approach,” said Alex Navab, Member of KKR and Co-head of the firm’s private equity business in the Americas. “Jorge’s appointment is an important milestone in our growth in and commitment to Brazil.”

In June, 2012, KKR appointed Henrique Meirelles, former Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil and former President of FleetBoston’s Corporate and Global Bank, as a Senior Advisor to the firm.

Henrique Meirelles commented, “Brazil continues to be fertile ground for investment opportunities. Jorge is well-respected in the business community, and I look forward to continuing to build out a high quality and differentiated investment team in Brazil with him and the rest of KKR’s global team to benefit Brazilian companies and KKR’s investors.”

Jorge Fergie added, “KKR is a pioneer of the private equity industry, and I am delighted to be joining such a world-class business. I was drawn to the firm because of its long track record of success around the globe, its philosophy of long-term, value-added investing and differentiated capabilities that will drive its long-term success in Brazil. KKR doesn’t just offer capital; it seeks to be a partner to leading local companies and entrepreneurs.”

Mr. Fergie holds a M-Sc. Degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University. Currently he is a member of the Executive Committee of the São Paulo Biennale.

KKR conducts business in Brazil through its subsidiary, KKR do Brasil Gestão de Investimentos e Participações Ltda.

Henderson – Zero to hero – recasting Europe

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Henderson - De la nada al éxito: reestructuración de Europa — Photo courtesy of Henderson. Henderson - Zero to hero – recasting Europe

For much of the last few years Europe has been viewed warily by investors as the sovereign debt crisis and a mixed economic picture have weighed on sentiment. In fact, it has become something of a badge of honour to avoid the continent. Crises, however, have a habit of encouraging transformative change and Europe is gradually reshaping itself.

The end of 2012 was interesting because for the first time in three years Europe avoided the spotlight. Instead, it was the turn of the US to be in the public glare as politicians frantically scrabbled to secure a deal that prevented the US economy falling off the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’. In echoes of earlier eurozone debates only a partial solution was agreed, with the budget decisions and debt ceiling talks delayed to the end of February.

For Europeans looking across the Atlantic they might be forgiven a wry smile and a sense of déjà vu. After all, whilst the US is only starting to face up to its structural problems, Europe has already been having these debates – in public – for the better part of three years.

Structural reform is underway

For all its faults, the straitjacket of the euro forced issues to a head, most notably the need for structural reforms. For countries such as Ireland and Greece, therefore, austerity programmes are well advanced. A cursory glance at the bond markets highlights this. Only two years ago Ireland was a pariah nation but now it is able to borrow in the open market at rates only a few percentage points above Germany, whilst its banking sector is fast rehabilitating.

It might seem Machiavellian but European companies, particularly the more globally-facing multinationals, have used the crisis in Europe to their advantage. One of the French electronics firms that we hold confessed to us that in ordinary circumstances they would never have been able to drive through the restructuring and plant consolidation they wanted to do were it not for the crisis dissuading politicians from blocking reforms. The result: European companies have been able to get fit quickly, focusing their operations on their more profitable businesses and culling the underperforming areas.

The carousel of eurozone crisis summits and market volatility was draining, but it led to incremental improvements and engendered greater political consensus. This was evidenced in the summer of 2012 when the eurozone was priced for an existential crisis. Politicians were spurred into action and the pragmatic approach taken by Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, particularly his pledge to preserve the euro helped to deter some of the more destabilising speculation, allowing markets to focus more on fundamentals and valuations.

Eurozone aggregate numbers attractive

As the hysteria surrounding a possible break-up of the eurozone faded, commentators have begun to look more objectively at the region. Europe combines net goods exporting countries such as Germany with net importers such as Spain. At the consolidated level, therefore, the eurozone is broadly in trade balance, unlike the US which runs a constant trade deficit or Japan which is reliant on exports. Similarly, the media has focused on the fiscal sinners but many European countries have their spending house in order and have relatively low levels of national debt. At the aggregate level, therefore, Eurozone net government borrowing in 2012 as a percentage of gross domestic product is forecast to come in at 3.3%, well below the 8.7% level of the US and 10.0% level of Japan.

Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, 2012 estimates, October 2012

When presented with such facts, it becomes far easier to comprehend why European equity markets performed well in the second half of 2012. The FTSE World Europe ex UK Total Return Index rose 15.3% in sterling terms in the final half of 2012, outperforming the equity markets of the UK, Japan and the US.

That said, I tend to become wary when a market does well, as it is more vulnerable to a correction or profit-taking. Neither of these should be ruled out over the coming months, particularly as global economic concerns and political hurdles, such as the Italian elections, are never far away, but for investors with a meaningful investment time horizon, Europe remains attractive. It is a region replete with quality cash-generative companies, many of which are household names with a global footprint, such as Adidas, the sportswear company, Roche, the pharmaceutical, Nestle, the food group, and BMW, the car manufacturer.

Whilst it might be argued that the better quality companies in Europe have already enjoyed something of a re-rating, they are generally still inexpensive relative to their peers in other regions. What is more, whole swathes of Europe have largely been shunned by investors. This is why we are tentatively identifying opportunities in peripheral areas of Europe such as Spanish domestic banks, encouraged by low valuations and a regulatory environment that is becoming less onerous.

Europe is beginning to emerge from the shadow of the crisis. For those investors who are prepared to look more deeply, they will discover a region that may be building towards a starring role in an investment portfolio.