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Private Equity: Liquidity Solutions Are Here to Stay

After the liquidity episodes of previous years, starting from last year’s low point, private equity is in the process of recovery. Despite better figures and somewhat more liquidity in the market, consultancy firm McKinsey expects that the liquidity solutions the industry has been shaping in recent years will remain in place. These types of liquidity vehicles, they stated in the latest version of their Global Private Markets Report, are here to stay.

“LPs are demanding more than just paper returns,” warned the consultancy firm. “Their understandable imperative is causing LPs and GPs to rely on a full suite of liquidity solutions, such as partial realizations and a more robust secondary market,” the firm indicated in its report. Partial realizations, McKinsey explains, provide temporary liquidity relief to managers, which is something they can pass on to their LPs who are dealing with capital calls from their alternative investment programs.

Thus, in a context where the holding period of private equity assets has been lengthening, “partial realizations show that GPs are increasingly recognizing the viability of generating liquidity from an aging asset.” Furthermore, secondary transactions surpassed their 2024 record and reached new heights in 2025, growing 48% to 240 billion dollars. This figure, the consultancy firm indicated, “was driven by the ongoing pursuit of liquidity in an environment of low distributions.”

Meanwhile, they added, GP-led transaction volume reached 115 billion dollars last year. This figure, they detailed, was fueled by greater use of continuation vehicles, even with the rebound in the IPO market. With all these elements on the table, McKinsey’s conclusion is that these solutions, which have earned a spot in the private equity ecosystem, will continue to be a prominent piece despite the improvement in liquidity conditions.

Here to Stay

“Liquidity solutions, such as GP-led transactions (the majority of which are continuation vehicles), have more than tripled in value over the past five years, rising from 35 billion dollars in 2020 to 115 billion dollars in 2025,” the consultancy firm indicated in its report. Current estimates suggest that 14% of all sponsor-backed exits go through continuation vehicles. And LPs’ expectation is for that figure to increase: they anticipate that 20% of such deals will go through continuation vehicles at the end of their holding period now, and that 29% will do so in the next five years.

Along those lines, given the proliferation of these situations, investors are paying closer attention to the underlying assets and watching to ensure that liquidity does not become a breeding ground for poor management. “LPs are showing concern that continuation vehicles could be used to hide underperforming assets. Our survey indicates that around 30% of LPs consider the assets in this type of vehicle to be ‘distressed’ or ‘challenged’,” the firm stated in its report.

For this reason, McKinsey emphasizes that this underscores the need for more transparency and alignment between managers and fund contributors, “as the PE industry navigates a more complex investment lifecycle.” That said, the survey also showed that LPs are generally not penalizing GPs who use continuation vehicles to extend the life of an asset. Nearly two-thirds of respondents express a neutral or positive view of investing with firms that typically apply these types of structures.

Global ETFs: A World of Differences

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under management have reached record levels of more than $22 trillion this year, but the evolution of this industry varies considerably depending on geographic regions. A situation that poses a series of unique challenges and opportunities for both sponsors and distributors, according to a study conducted by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH). BBH’s recent event held in London, titled “The World of ETFs: Regional Perspectives, Global Visions,” offered insights from the firm’s experts on key regional differences and the challenges facing the sector.

Challenges in the U.S. Market BBH’s Head of U.S. ETF Services, Tim Huver, highlighted the country’s position as the most mature and innovative ETF market globally. According to Huver, active ETF structures now account for the vast majority of new fund launches in the United States, attracting a disproportionate share of net inflows. He also pointed out the growing product innovation in areas such as the conversion of mutual funds into ETFs and share classes, fund cloning, and the broader benefits provided by U.S. tax regulations supporting ETFs. However, despite the boom in the exchange-traded fund business in the United States, challenges remain in the U.S. market. “In many ways, barriers to market entry have never been lower, but certain distribution hurdles persist, particularly with wealth management platforms and wirehouses, whose requirements regarding track record, asset levels, and liquidity can prove restrictive,” Huver stated.

The Potential of Latin America The discussion on Latin America focused less on product innovation and more on market access and distribution. The Latin American investment market suffers from a lack of regional harmonization, according to BBH. Daniel Montoya, Head of Relationship Management for the Americas at BBH, described how each local market has distinct regulatory, tax, and operational requirements, creating significant complexity for asset managers and their distributors. “The success of ETFs in this market depends far less on launching new products and much more on securing strong local distribution partners and establishing relationships with local market makers, as well as understanding the behavior of institutional buyers and adapting strategies country by country,” he said. Despite these challenges, Montoya believes there is ample room for growth in regional and local ETF markets. “While local ETF markets remain relatively small, demand for exposure to global ETFs is already substantial in countries like Mexico and Chile, while Brazil has built a solid retail ETF investor base,” he noted.

Evolution in Europe Andrea Murray, Head of EMEA ETF Services at BBH, described the regional adoption of ETFs as a phenomenon increasingly driven by savings plans, investment platforms, pension reforms, and government initiatives designed to encourage the transition from savings to investment. Murray highlighted the rise of platform collaborations, co-branded ETFs, and bank launches of their own exchange-traded fund products as major structural developments. The adoption of active ETFs varies across geographic regions, and although active ETFs still represent a small portion of the overall European market, Murray noted that they are “growing rapidly” due to regulatory changes that make this format more attractive to traditional active managers. “European transparency and regulatory changes—such as progress toward a Savings and Investments Union (SIU)—are accelerating the launch of active ETFs. Europe is also opening up retail distribution in markets like Germany, and we are observing an increasing adoption of actively managed ETF products,” she stated. However, Murray also identified key market challenges, including the need for specialized expertise in ETF-related capital markets in a region where having quality, highly knowledgeable distribution partners can also be critical to success. “Capital markets expertise remains the single largest operational challenge for new issuers in Europe,” she added.

Asian Fragmentation Chris Pigott, Head of Asia ETF Services at BBH, described the region as a “thriving,” albeit “multifaceted and fragmented” market that is undergoing rapid changes. Describing some unique market trends observed in Asia, Pigott added that ETF “Connect” programs with mainland China create significant cross-border growth opportunities, while digital distribution channels are also gaining increasing importance in markets like Hong Kong. “Retail investors continue to exert a strong influence on Asian markets, though their behavior can vary dramatically from one local market to another. The market is evolving rapidly, and ETF approvals by mainland China could unlock a major new market in the region,” he stated.

Conclusions Ultimately, ETFs have evolved from a mere product category into a truly global investment vehicle, and the development of active ETFs has become an increasingly dominant global growth trend. With the United States leading innovation, Europe is driving retail distribution and the adoption of active strategies through regulatory changes. Meanwhile, Asia is creating new growth models, while Latin America continues to present significant untapped market potential. In this context, the firm believes that retail investors are becoming increasingly important everywhere. Experts systematically highlighted distribution as the primary factor determining success, in many cases proving to be even more important than product creation. On the downside, there are indications, particularly in Europe, that much-needed ETF-specialized capital markets expertise is in short supply. Nevertheless, across all regions, experts agreed that the combination of active ETFs, the growth of retail investors, and the improvement of distribution infrastructure is helping shape the next phase of the sector’s expansion.

Partners Group Launches Two Sub-Portfolios to Add Flexibility to Its Evergreen Private Equity Strategy

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Partners Group has updated its strategy to become an umbrella fund with two sub-portfolios, designed to offer investors greater flexibility in how they allocate money to private equity over time. This change is part of the evolution of its established private equity evergreen strategy, Global Value SICAV, and comes as a response to the broadening preferences of investors. Both portfolios will be managed by the same team, as highlighted in a press release.

Global Value SICAV boasts a 19-year track record and has multiplied invested capital by 4.5 times since its inception, the asset manager emphasized. As the industry grows, institutional and private banking investors are increasingly seeking greater flexibility to allocate capital more dynamically across private markets. In response to this market growth, the firm has launched two sub-portfolios, which will represent a compounding fund and a distributing fund. These vehicles will offer investors the option to monetize returns across the portfolio and will be built from different vintages.

The company offers its investors the possibility to maintain the current Global Value SICAV strategy, convert shares from the distributing fund to the compounding fund, or redeem shares in one or both sub-portfolios. As explained, the fund is optimized for the arrival of new investors and will manage capital more efficiently.

Regarding the evolution of the program, the next step will be to launch an umbrella fund, which is subject to shareholder approval. The firm’s update aligns with the assets under management forecasts communicated during Partners Group’s first-half updates in July and September 2026.

“Our proposal to segment Global Value SICAV into two tailored portfolio profiles prepares one of the most successful private equity evergreen strategies to continue accumulating returns in the future. We are simplifying portfolio construction and management, allowing investors to align capital with their liquidity needs and return objectives without compromises. The long-term exposure offered by the compounding fund has already sparked interest from new institutional investors,” stated Roberto Cagnati, Partner and future Co-CEO of Partners Group, in the press release.

US Midterm Elections on the Horizon: Where to Focus?

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Do you already have November 3, 2026 marked on your calendar? History suggests that in the U.S. midterm elections, a low approval rating for the incumbent president could cost Republicans their narrow majority in the House of Representatives, although they have a better chance of holding the Senate. It is clear that its outcome will be relevant because control of Congress is important for fiscal policy, regulation, and public spending, three aspects that influence investments.

However, as George Brown, senior economist at Schroders, recognizes, over the years, the composition of Congress has had little influence on U.S. equity returns. “Earnings, growth, inflation, and interest rates have been much more important. Therefore, the most plausible consequence of the midterm elections is greater dispersion among sectors, and it is possible that politically sensitive areas, such as energy, healthcare, and technology, will face greater scrutiny,” he explains.

In the view of Paolo Zanghieri, senior economist at Generali AM (part of Generali Investments), the November midterm elections are likely to result in a divided Congress, with Democrats being very likely to win the House of Representatives by a narrow majority. “This increases the risk of a standoff over the debt ceiling in January 2027. An agreement extending healthcare assistance in exchange for tax cuts remains possible, but that would further weaken the fiscal outlook. We expect the deficit to close 2026 around 6% of GDP,” he points out.

The Decisive Factor

On the contrary, for Thomas Mucha, geopolitical strategist at Wellington Management, where one really needs to focus when analyzing the implications of these midterm elections is not on their outcome, but “on what does not change.” Mucha considers that the greatest investment opportunities of the next decade will not arise from radical policy changes, but from their continuation.

“Markets spend a tremendous amount of time trying to predict election results. Perhaps the most useful question is: what trends are likely to endure after the election, regardless of who wins? That list is becoming increasingly clear to me: competition with China; artificial intelligence (AI); industrial capacity; defense modernization; critical minerals; infrastructure resilience; cybersecurity; energy security; and supply chain resilience,” explains the Wellington Management expert.

According to his vision, it is possible that these issues move forward faster under one party than another. “The most important question is what the United States has already decided. I think it is unlikely that the greatest investment opportunities of the next decade will come from election surprises. They will come from the structural changes that continue long after the votes have been counted. And, increasingly, those changes point in the same direction: toward a world in which resilience, capacity, national security, and adaptation matter more than mere economic efficiency,” he insists.

The dollar and bonds

For the experts at J. Safra Sarasin Sustainable AM, this election could become an important test of investor confidence in the country’s public policy making. “For the dollar, a key question will be determining whether the composition of the next Congress alters the growth trajectory through changes in fiscal policy, trade relations, and investment linked to artificial intelligence. However, the election result could also trigger a reassessment of the risk premiums associated with uncertainty about U.S. economic policy,” the firm states.

According to its analysis, if Democrats gain control of both chambers, it would limit the legislative agenda of the Trump administration and strengthen congressional oversight. “While this scenario could moderate the fiscal momentum, it would also foreseeably contribute to strengthening confidence in U.S. institutions, reducing the political risk premiums currently priced into both long-term U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar,” they acknowledge.

In this regard, it is true that alongside the strength of AI-driven growth, concerns about the sustainability of U.S. public debt have been one of the main factors pushing long-term Treasury yields higher during the summer. “As a consequence, the historically positive correlation between long-term U.S. yields and the dollar has broken down over the past three months, a situation we would expect to reverse in the event of a Blue Sweep,” they clarify.

Additionally, experts at J. Safra Sarasin Sustainable AM acknowledge that concerns surrounding the political independence of the Federal Reserve should diminish as Democrats gain influence over the confirmation of future appointments to the central bank. “On the flip side, we expect a more restrained fiscal spending policy and a potential slowdown in data center construction to reduce some of the economic growth momentum, which could partially offset the supporting factors for the dollar,” they conclude.

Private and Institutional Capital Fuel the Surge in Alternatives in the Region

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Capital Without Borders Panel, Organized by CAIA Florida

Echoing what already appears to be a long-term structural trend, Latin American investors and the region’s investment industry are increasingly hungry for alternative assets. Driven by a variety of factors, this phenomenon has not gone unnoticed in Miami, the heart of Latin American offshore investments. Unsurprisingly, the Florida chapter of the CAIA Association—which groups investment professionals holding the CAIA alternative investment designation—dedicated its latest panel to this topic.

The session, titled “Capital Without Borders,” brought together a variety of figures, presenting perspectives from family offices and specialized GPs on the future of this market in the region. In that discussion, a key driver was the growing sophistication of investors in the region and the tailwinds presented by various pools of capital.

“What is interesting about LatAm right now is that family offices and institutional investors have truly grown over the last decade, becoming more institutionalized,” indicated Hernan van Waveren, CIO of Grupo Werthein Family Office. Added to this is that the region has become a greater source of investment opportunities for private markets.

From the perspective of global firms, the neighborhood offers a compelling story. Jordie Olivella, Managing Director at KKR—who represents the firm in both Latin America and Canada—describes three attractive aspects: market size, which BCG places at around 8.7 trillion dollars; a shift in the political climate toward a more investment-friendly environment; and a global macroeconomic and commodities backdrop that favors wealth creation in the region.

As alternatives have gained prominence in regional portfolios, the professionals who have certified with CAIA have grown alongside them. From 326 members about four years ago, they now reach 600 professionals, with Brazil as the primary market, followed by Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia.

Matured Supply and Demand

One of the main drivers behind the surge in demand, as reported by the professionals brought together by CAIA, has been the growing sophistication of Latin American clients. In the past, only a few entities—mainly large institutionals—had knowledge of alternatives and access to private markets. Today, the investor universe is more demanding.

This greater sophistication, highlights Juan José Daboub, CIO at Visala Capital, has led to a different perspective on incorporating alternatives into portfolios. “We used to think of allocators as people seeking access to certain funds, and that it was all about the product. Now, in what we can call an allocator 2.0, it is about seeing how products fit into my broader portfolio,” he explained.

Olivella agrees with the assessment, outlining a new orientation toward portfolio optimization. “What is happening is that the level of the game has been raised for both GPs and LPs,” he commented, describing managers as portfolio “architects.” And these professionals are assembling portfolios using various structures, he noted, including primary strategies, secondaries, co-investments, and semi-liquids.

On the other side of the coin, supply has also been evolving in lockstep with the development of the industry’s investment capabilities. “We are absolutely finding more opportunities to invest and more partners to invest directly in the Latin American market,” pointed out Van Waveren of Grupo Werthein.

One of these transformations on the vehicle side is the rise of co-investments. More sophisticated clients, explained David Lopez, Head of LatAm at Thoma Bravo, are turning to this type of investment due to the cost efficiency it offers. “For better or worse, clients have been focusing on co-investments to reduce fees and try to achieve better returns,” he said.

Institutional and Family Office Flows

For the first time, described the Thoma Bravo executive, both engines are firing at once. “This means that institutional capital has been driven by pension fund industry regulation, and, in addition, we are finally seeing access at scale in the wealth segment,” he commented during the panel held in Miami.

On the institutional side, there are several instances where pension funds could demand more alternative assets. Mexico, for example, has a 500-billion-dollar industry growing at 20% a year, while Chile increased contributions in its latest reform and raised investment limits for alternatives. Furthermore, new investors are joining, such as pension vehicles in El Salvador and Costa Rica.

In addition, single family offices—which operate increasingly like institutionals rather than single-client private banks—are also ramping up their appetite. Although this segment has been investing in the asset class for decades, industry figures see room for growth. While FOs currently invest around 30% of their capital in alternatives, that figure could reach the 40% registered in the US, according to López.

The phenomenon of a holistic portfolio view becomes especially relevant for this segment, as emphasized by Daboub of Visala. “Most of these families already have a very concentrated private equity position, which is their own operating business,” he explained, adding that this has become another piece of portfolio diversification, as they must find “an alternative to the exposure they already hold.”

“Before, they looked for what was available, whereas now they look for what they can buy that is uncorrelated with what they own,” he indicated, “what will give them an additional return over what they can find locally or in public markets.”

The Emerging Wealth Segment

A few rungs down the private wealth scale, a segment gaining prominence in the region—and inspiring the creation of a variety of wealth management firms—is private wealth clients.

This, industry players stress, is also a trend echoing a global phenomenon. “The same trends seen in the US are playing out in Latin America,” said Olivella of KKR. “Major private banks, wirehouse channels, RIAs, and independent broker-dealers now have access to high-quality products from solid GPs,” he added. In that vein, the executive underlined the role that the development of evergreen vehicles played in this dynamic.

Although the most cited figure is a 2% penetration rate in Latin American wealth management channels, noted the professional, this average hides a heterogeneous landscape combining highly sophisticated investors, with 15% to 20% allocations in alternatives, and clients who have not yet entered the space.

Overall, these flows have left a mark on the industry, not only in the work of international giants like JPMorgan or Morgan Stanley, but also in the expansion of major Latin American financial groups such as Itaú, Credicorp, SURA, and BTG Pactual.

Looking ahead, the industry views mass-affluent clients as the next frontier. “There is a lot of interest and capital flowing from the Ultra High Net Worth segment, and I think the next wave will be the affluent channel,” said López of Thoma Bravo.

For the professional, this will nevertheless require the use of local structures, but he foresees “a massive opportunity for private wealth in private markets over the next five years.”

Jorge Bastarrachea Joins Raymond James to Strengthen Its International Financial Advisory Business in Miami

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Jorge Bastarrachea has joined Raymond James to strengthen its international financial advisory business in Miami. The executive leaves Citi after several years to join the Brickell office, in a market that has become one of the main hubs for managing Latin American wealth.

Miami’s wealth management market continues to attract talent specialized in international clients. Jorge Bastarrachea is the latest example: the executive himself announced his arrival at Raymond James & Associates as Director and International Financial Advisor, following several years at Citi.

Bastarrachea announced the move on LinkedIn, where he expressed his gratitude to the team at Citi for the support, mentorship, and cumulative experience gained during his tenure at the institution, while highlighting his enthusiasm for bringing that background to his new role.

His arrival was also confirmed by Raymond James. In a welcome message, the firm emphasized his commitment to clients, his professionalism, and his experience in guiding individuals toward achieving their financial goals.

The executive specifically joins Raymond James’ Miami/Brickell office, a strategic location for a firm serving both US and international investors.

This movement occurs at a time when Miami has consolidated its position as one of the primary nexus points connecting Latin American capital with United States financial markets. The city concentrates a growing community of business leaders, investors, and high-net-worth families from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries across the region.

For wealth management firms, this concentration represents an opportunity that extends far beyond simply onboarding clients looking to invest in the US. Demand includes wealth structuring, international diversification, access to global markets, estate planning, and investment vehicles that allow managing wealth across multiple jurisdictions.

In this context, the profile of advisors with experience handling international clients holds particular value. Major financial institutions compete not only through their investment platforms, but also for talent capable of building long-term relationships with families whose wealth and business activities may be spread across several countries. Bastarrachea’s move to Raymond James fits directly into that dynamic.

Miami: Increasingly Central to Latin American Wealth

The strengthening of teams dedicated to the international segment coincides with a broader transformation of Miami as a financial hub for Latin America.

In recent years, the city has drawn a convergence of Latin American capital, entrepreneurs, and financial professionals, driven by factors ranging from geographic diversification to the need for more international wealth and financial structures.

Brickell, home to the office Bastarrachea is joining, has emerged as one of the primary focal points of this activity. Private banks, investment firms, wealth managers, and independent advisors compete to serve a Latin American clientele that is increasingly accustomed to holding a portion of its assets outside their home countries.

For US institutions, the appeal lies in the fact that a relationship established with a Latin American investor can expand across an entire family structure: investments, businesses, real estate assets, and, ultimately, future generations.

As a result, the movement of specialized professionals between major financial institutions can also be viewed as part of a broader competition for internationalized Latin American capital.

In Bastarrachea’s case, his transition from Citi to Raymond James represents a change in professional platform, but it also reflects the growing importance for US firms of having specialists capable of serving clients who no longer view their wealth strictly within their country’s borders.

The battle for this capital is not limited to Miami either. New York, Texas, and other US markets have gained traction as key destinations for Latin American families seeking diversification and access to global markets.

In this landscape, wealth management firms face mounting competition for two assets that cannot be built quickly: client wealth and client trust. And it is precisely there that the depth of experience brought by financial advisors becomes one of the most critical assets for institutions seeking to expand in the international market.

Mexicans Have Become the Second Largest Foreign Buyer of Residential Real Estate in the United States

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Mexicans were the second largest group of foreign buyers of residential property in the United States between April 2025 and March 2026, behind only Canada, according to the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

During that period, they acquired approximately 9,400 properties—representing 14% of all purchases made by foreigners—with a total value close to 5 billion dollars.

This figure is particularly significant because Mexico ranked above China, India, and the United Kingdom in terms of the number of homes acquired. China, although third in the number of properties, led total expenditure with 7.6 billion dollars, driven by the higher average value of its acquisitions.

The phenomenon deserves attention for an additional reason: it does not appear to stem from a single motivation.

For some Mexicans, a property in the United States represents a second home; for others, a real estate investment, a place for their children to study, a way to facilitate family mobility, or a natural extension of their business activities.

And for a portion of private wealth families, it can represent something even broader: the establishment of a permanent presence on the other side of the border.

Mexico’s results within the US international market take on greater significance when viewed against the overall context.

Foreign purchases in the United States dropped 14% in volume and 19.1% in value during NAR’s latest measurement period, down to 67,100 homes and 45.3 billion dollars, respectively. This marked the second lowest transaction volume since the association began tracking these metrics in 2009.

Amid that contraction, Mexico accounted for 14% of foreign acquisitions, just two percentage points behind Canada.

The data, therefore, does not simply describe an expanding international market. It describes something more specific: the Mexican presence remains one of the most prominent within a foreign buyer market that, overall, lost momentum.

Furthermore, NAR notes that Canada and Mexico—the two countries sharing a border with the United States and its regional trade partners—were the top buyers in terms of property count.

In this context, geography helps explain part of the story, and the border remains important because Mexicans do not purchase US residential real estate following the exact same pattern as other foreign buyers.

The primary destinations for Mexican buyers during the latest period were California, Texas, and Florida, according to NAR.

California shares a particularly deep historical, cultural, and family connection with Mexico, while Florida has for years served as one of the primary destinations for Latin American capital.

However, Texas warrants special attention. The state combines geographic proximity, strong economic ties to Mexico, robust business growth, and a significant population of Mexican origin. That combination is also reshaping the real estate map.

Data from Realtor.com showed that during the first quarter of 2025, Mexico accounted for 5.4% of international web traffic for US residential properties. Mexican search interest was heavily concentrated in markets near the border, such as San Diego, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, and Houston.

The rationale provided by the analysis itself is revealing: proximity, cultural and linguistic connections, family and corporate networks, and access to education, healthcare, and global travel. It is not, therefore, strictly an investment decision.

Buying a home can also mean buying mobility; one of the most interesting traits of the Mexican buyer is precisely that their real estate decision can serve multiple simultaneous functions.

A property in the United States can serve as a primary residence, a second home, an investment asset, or a combination of these uses. NAR points out that roughly half of foreign buyers acquired property as a vacation home, a rental investment, or both—a proportion significantly higher than the 17% recorded across existing US home buyers overall.

This helps explain why the phenomenon cannot be reduced to simple residential migration. A family can maintain its primary residence in Mexico while simultaneously purchasing property in Texas or California to facilitate business activities, provide housing for studying children, generate rental income, or simply maintain a permanent footprint in the United States.

Real estate thus becomes a tool for mobility.

The Business Factor

The growing internationalization of Mexican companies may serve as another contextual driver.

The KPMG Global Family Business Report 2026 indicates that 27% of Mexican family businesses consider geographic expansion one of their main strategic priorities heading toward 2035. New product and service development ranks first at 30%, followed by geographic expansion.

This figure does not mean that 27% of those families are buying properties in the United States; there is no evidence to establish a direct causal link.

However, it does show that geographic internationalization is part of the growth strategy for a significant portion of Mexican family businesses.

And when a family business internationalizes, family decisions can also assume an international dimension, involving factors such as: where the entrepreneur lives; where their children study; where the next generation settles; where a portion of family wealth is concentrated; where new corporate relationships are built; and where a second residence is maintained.

The property can become the first visible component of a much broader wealth architecture.

Texas: Where Business and Housing Meet

The rising importance of Texas helps clarify this intersection. Realtor.com found that Texan markets gained traction among international buyers due to a combination of lower relative living costs, business expansion, job creation, and a pro-business environment. Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio stood among the top US markets for international interest in 2025.

For Mexicans, the added advantage is clear: Texas is close, but not only geographically. An established corporate, familial, and cultural infrastructure facilitates mobility between both countries.

This helps explain why cities like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio prove particularly appealing to Mexicans seeking to combine housing, work, education, and investment.

The border, in these cases, ceases to act as a barrier and begins to function as a shared economic domain.

Yet there is another less visible, albeit highly relevant reason: education. For certain Mexican families, purchasing property in the United States can be tied to children enrolling in American universities.

Realtor.com has identified specific instances where international buyers acquire real estate for family members studying in Texas.

The logic can be straightforward: rather than paying rent over several years, a family with the financial capacity can acquire a property that serves as a residence for their children and, eventually, as a long-term capital asset.

The decision thus blends three variables: education, wealth management, and housing. This helps explain why foreign buyers do not necessarily seek real estate exclusively for their own immediate use.

Mexican private wealth is beginning to take on a more global dimension because real estate purchases are only one part of a broader wealth management relationship.

A family holding real estate in the United States may eventually require financing, insurance, property management, legal services, cross-border tax planning, financial investments, and estate planning structures.

Consequently, the growth of Mexican buyers carries implications extending far beyond the residential market.

For private banks, family offices, financial advisors, asset managers, and international wealth specialists, each property can mark the start of a much broader cross-border financial relationship—which is where concepts like Near-Living gain relevance.

This is not necessarily because all Mexican purchases are linked to nearshoring, but because deeper economic integration can require a family to operate seamlessly across two distinct markets.

Not Yet a Mass Wealth Migration

It is also important to put the phenomenon into perspective. The 9,400 properties acquired by Mexicans represent a small fraction of the vast US residential market. Moreover, NAR does not identify nearshoring as the direct cause of these transactions.

Nor can it be assumed that all buyers are corporate executives or high-net-worth families.

NAR’s definition of a foreign buyer includes both non-resident foreign nationals and resident foreign nationals—meaning recent immigrants and visa holders living in the US for professional, educational, or other reasons.

This distinction is key because it prevents automatically framing the statistic as a story of wealthy Mexicans relocating capital to the United States. The reality is far more nuanced, which is precisely what makes it compelling.

From Foreign Buyer to Binational Economic Citizen

What the data illustrates is an increasingly complex relationship. Mexico stands as the second largest country of origin for foreign home buyers in the United States.

Mexican buyers concentrate acquisitions primarily in California, Texas, and Florida.

Mexican real estate searches show a strong tilt toward border cities and major economic hubs. Mexican family businesses place geographic expansion high among their growth priorities, and the United States remains Mexico’s primary economic partner.

Each metric, taken individually, tells a distinct story. Together, they outline a broader transformation: the border between Mexico and the United States is becoming less relevant for specific corporate, family, and wealth management decisions.

Where nearshoring initially moved corporate entities and supply chains toward Mexico, another movement has emerged—less visible and more personal: Mexicans buying a foothold for their lives in the United States.

A home may be the entry point. What follows can be education, an office, an investment, a business enterprise, an investment account, or a comprehensive wealth structure.

Rather than looking at this simply as Mexicans buying houses in the United States, the phenomenon can be viewed from another angle:

Mexico is already the second largest foreign buyer of US residential real estate; the question now is what drives those acquisitions and how far this evolving mobility of people, businesses, and capital can go.

John Lloyd (Janus Henderson): “Hyperscalers’ Capex Forecasts Consolidate a Multi-Year AI Investment Cycle”

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Photo courtesyJohn Lloyd, Head of Global Multisector Corporate Debt at Janus Henderson.

In the view of John Lloyd, Head of Global Multisector Corporate Debt at Janus Henderson, the corporate credit market is experiencing a strong period mainly for two reasons: corporate earnings growth is solid—especially in the US—and default levels remain low. “Although spreads are historically tight, low default rates still allow for appropriate risk-adjusted pricing. However, tight valuations are forcing investors to rethink asset allocation,” he points out.

The expert considers that the asset class offering the best risk-adjusted return/volatility profile and the most potential for portfolios is corporate credit securitization, as it also provides the widest spread, particularly within the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Regarding the outlook for higher interest rates, Lloyd views it as positive, as it enables the credit market to continue offering attractive yields. “The rise in long-term rates is driven, among other factors, by the sizable US fiscal deficit, estimated between 6% and 7% this year, creating fierce competition for capital with the private sector and AI-related issuance,” he explains.

In his opinion, another consequence of this shifting central bank outlook is that, after five years of inflation above the 2% target in the US, “investors are demanding higher real and annual rates. Flows into credit will continue to be driven primarily by absolute yield levels rather than spread widening,” he acknowledges.

The Hyperscaler Tsunami

Against this market backdrop, one of the key points highlighted by Lloyd is the massive supply of debt approaching the investment grade market to finance AI infrastructure. As he notes, corporate debt issuance is expected to exceed one trillion dollars over the next year, originating mostly from tech hyperscalers. “The tech component of the IG index is estimated to double over the next fiscal year. This huge supply has already caused hyperscalers to underperform the broader market. In light of this oversupply scenario, our strategy has remained heavily underweight in investment grade tech,” he admits.

Lloyd compares this episode to past waves of massive capital expenditure, such as the telecom spectrum rollout in the US, a period during which issuers also underperformed the index. “Spending on AI infrastructure is not a passing fad. Hyperscalers’ capex forecast will rise from over $800 billion today to $1.3 trillion by 2028, consolidating a multi-year AI investment cycle.”

Portfolio Positioning

For Lloyd, a multisector approach amplifies the benefits of active management and optimizes return per unit of volatility. Within its strategy, the firm maintains an overweight in securitized assets relative to traditional corporate debt. “Although their valuations are also tight, they offer better relative value and lower volatility per unit of spread. AAA-rated CLOs stand out, offering attractive yields—around 125 basis points in Europe compared to 80 bps for the IG index—with higher credit quality and lower volatility,” he argues.

Additionally, the portfolio maintains a short duration of between 3 and 5 years, centered at 4 years. As he explains, “this decision responds both to attractive short-to-medium-term yields and to a structural post-COVID shift. Correlations between duration and spreads have turned more positive, making duration less effective as a hedge when rates rise,” he states.

Two asset classes highlighted by the manager and included in the JH Multi-sector Income strategy are emerging market credit and high yield debt, as well as bank loans. Regarding emerging markets, he believes their fundamentals have improved, showing “more credit rating upgrades than downgrades,” while sovereign issuers “demonstrate greater fiscal discipline compared to developed market deficits.” Based on his experience, moreover, “scarce AI-linked debt issuance in emerging markets supports favorable supply-demand dynamics.”

Lastly, he notes that in the case of high yield debt, “we prefer the European loan market over the US market due to its less cyclical nature, lower software exposure, and reduced risk of AI disruption. Furthermore, euro-denominated issuance tranches offer an additional spread of 25 to 50 basis points over their dollar equivalents.”

How a Quantitative or Systematic Fund Works

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

¿Cómo funciona un fondo cuantitativo? — Mutuafondo España F FI obtains Morningstar's highest five-star rating

Systematic investing occupies an increasingly relevant place in the portfolios of institutional and wealth investors worldwide. Understanding how a quantitative or systematic fund (or quant fund) operates is key to evaluating what role it can play within a diversified asset allocation.

The main difference compared to traditional management lies in how decisions are made. A discretionary manager analyzes companies or macro scenarios and makes decisions based on judgment. In a quantitative fund, the team designs a system that executes decisions according to rules established in advance, though human oversight is typically maintained. It operates like a factory of decisions built on data and statistical methods, searching for repeatable market patterns.

It all begins with a hypothesis: for example, that assets that have risen tend to continue doing so for a period of time, or that companies trading cheap relative to their fundamentals outperform over the long term. That concept is converted into concrete rules and tested against historical data before being applied with real capital.

The Stages of the Process

Although each asset manager employs its own methodology, the process generally follows four distinct phases:

Data Collection: Gathering prices, corporate earnings, trading volumes, macroeconomic indicators, and increasingly, alternative data like satellite imagery or credit card transaction records. Data quality is paramount.
Signal Generation: Producing indicators that estimate which assets are likely to outperform or underperform.
Portfolio Construction: An algorithm determines position weights by weighing expected returns, risk levels, and transaction costs.
Execution and Risk Control: Automated order execution combined with strict limits on exposure, volatility, or concentration.

Among the most widespread strategies are factor investing (seeking to capture risk premia associated with attributes like value, momentum, quality, or low volatility), trend-following strategies (typical of systematic CTAs, which take long or short positions based on price direction), and relative value or statistical arbitrage strategies (exploiting temporary mispricings between related assets).

These strategies can be applied across equities, fixed income, currencies, and commodities in any market, explaining their global reach.

Advantages and Limitations

Key strengths include strict operational discipline, the mitigation of emotional biases, the capacity to process vast amounts of data, and the ability to diversify across multiple markets simultaneously.

However, unique risks remain:

Overfitting: Designing a model that performs exceptionally well on historical data but fails to maintain results in real-time markets.
Regime Shifts: Structural market changes where historical relationships no longer hold true.
Crowding: Heavy concentration in similar strategies when numerous market participants act on identical signals. Events like August 2007, when multiple equity long-short quant funds suffered simultaneous losses, clearly illustrate this risk.

What Investors Should Evaluate

Before allocating capital, investors should review process transparency, research rigor, risk management frameworks, fee structures, and the fund’s correlation with the rest of the portfolio. A quantitative fund is neither an infallible black box nor a complete replacement for traditional active management, but rather a complementary tool that delivers a distinct, disciplined approach.

Fidelity International Expands Active ETF Offering with New Range

| By Amaya Uriarte | 0 Comentarios

Fidelity International has launched the Fidelity Global Equity Enhanced Yield UCITS ETF and the Fidelity US Equity Enhanced Yield UCITS ETF. According to the firm, these vehicles form part of its new Equity Enhanced Yield ETF range. The objective is to provide investors with a differentiated source of income while maintaining exposure to equity markets.

The firm explains that these new ETFs combine an actively managed equity portfolio with an overlaid systematic option strategy, blending Fidelity’s fundamental research capabilities with a rules-based approach to generate additional income. ESG factors are also taken into account when evaluating investment risks and opportunities. To execute the project, each ETF will feature $5 million in seed capital provided by Susquehanna, an authorized market participant.

“Against a backdrop where market volatility continues to pose challenges for investors, we are observing growing demand for strategies capable of providing alternative sources of income while allowing them to remain invested in equity markets,” noted Neil Davies, Head of ETFs at Fidelity International.

He added: “What sets this range apart is that it offers investors access to Fidelity’s bottom-up equity research in a systematic format. At the same time, a disciplined, rules-based option strategy seeks to deliver an additional source of income, while option premiums also help buffer part of the impact from market downturns.”

For his part, Vincent Li, Head of Derivatives at Fidelity International, commented: “Options can be a powerful tool to reshape the return profile of an equity investment. Our approach is intentionally systematic, utilizing a disciplined framework to select and execute index call options with the goal of generating additional income on a consistent basis, while maintaining meaningful participation in equity markets.”

According to the company, this launch further expands Fidelity International’s active ETF offering, bringing its product suite to 28 funds. Fidelity is one of Europe’s largest active ETF providers, with $16.8 billion in active ETF assets under management.