Mar Hernández - Courtesy photo. Russell Reynolds Associates Hires Mar Hernández
Russell Reynolds Associates yesterday announced that Mar Hernández has joined the firm’s new Miami office as a consultant in the Financial Services practice. Mar advises and recruits C-suite level executives for clients in global private wealth management, asset management, private equity, insurance and fintech. She also works with clients across a range of industries to build and develop C-suite leadership at their regional headquarters based in Florida
“Mar brings industry and analytical expertise to conduct senior-level searches for a wide range of strategic and functional roles,” said Constantine Alexandrakis, leader of Russell Reynolds Associates’ operations in the United States. “We are excited to have Mar join our Miami office. Her deep connections in the region and her international work experience augment our ability to assist clients and continue our firm’s growth trajectory.”
Prior to joining the firm, Mar spent five years with a boutique search firm in Miami –Transearch– as a senior client partner. Earlier, she was Global Sales & Marketing Director, BPO at Amicorp Group. During her time there, she worked in Barcelona and Athens and supervised the opening of a new center in Pretoria, South Africa. Earlier in her career, Mar worked for EDS, TeleTech and advertising roles at companies such as McCann (in Barcelona and Miami) and Saatchi & Saatchi (in Barcelona).
Mar earned a B.A. in Communications Science from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and an M.A. in Business Administration from the Escuela Superior de Administracion de Empresas.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Randy Heinitz
. Changing Investor Preferences are Pressuring Hedge Funds
Hedge fund managers are feeling the pressure from changing investor demands and the managers that adapt accordingly and timely will be the most successful in achieving growth, according to the EY 2016 Global Hedge Fund and Investor Survey: Will adapting to today’s evolving demands help you stand out tomorrow?
The 10th annual survey found that hedge fund growth has slowed for a variety of reasons – the abundance of low fee passive investment options, lackluster hedge fund performance and cost concerns. In 2016, the proportion of North American investors that said they were reducing allocations to hedge funds exceeded the proportion that were increasing for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008.
Investors have more options than ever within the alternatives marketplace and are allocating funds to those managers that have a unique offering that is satisfying a specific need. Therefore, hedge fund managers must be at the forefront of actively listening to their investors to keep pace, or else be left behind, the report finds.
Michael Serota, EY Global Leader, Hedge Fund Services, says: “Growth is the industry’s top priority, but managers are changing the strategies employed to achieve it. While we find the largest managers pursuing several growth strategies, the smaller managers are more narrowly focused, seeking to expand investor bases within their home markets. Amidst today’s challenging environment, it is imperative for managers of all sizes to identify the needs of their clients and align product offerings to their demands.”
Other key findings include:
Hedge fund managers focus on asset growth to counter reduced inflows
As fee pressures increase, managers need to innovate and optimize processes to cut costs
Prime brokerages are putting pressure on hedge funds to evolve their relationships
Managers are focused on developing their talent management programs, which investors see as increasingly important
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainPhoto: Mike Bird . Passive Funds, Funds of Funds, and Team-Managed Funds, the Ones With More Women Fund Managers
Morningstar, has published a research report finding that across 56 countries, one in five funds has a female portfolio manager, and in the study’s eight-year timeframe, that ratio has not improved. The company’s second research report about fund managers and gender considered more than 26,000 fund managers, comparing the man-to-woman ratio of fund managers to other professions that require similar education, including doctors and lawyers, by country. The report also identifies areas of the industry where women have been making relative gains.
“Women are underrepresented in mutual funds’ leadership ranks globally, with larger markets farther behind smaller markets,” Laura Pavlenko Lutton, Morningstar’s director of manager research in North America, said. “We did find areas where women are finding more opportunity, specifically among passive funds, funds of funds, and team-managed funds. Larger equity firms are also more likely to promote women to fund-management roles than smaller firms.”
Key highlights of the research report include:
Countries with large financial centers have lower proportions of women fund managers than many smaller markets based on data from Morningstar’s global database. In France, Hong Kong, Israel, Singapore, and Spain, at least 20 percent of fund managers are women. Singapore is the global leader among 56 countries with women representing 30 percent of total fund managers and 29 percent of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholders. Large financial centers, such as Brazil, India, Germany, and the United States, are behind the global average of 12.9 percent women fund managers. In India, only 7 percent of fund managers are women.
In some asset classes, women fund managers are more credentialed than men. A woman fund manager is approximately 7 percent and 4 percent more likely than a male peer to have her CFA designation among equity and fixed-income funds, respectively.
Women have better odds of running funds in areas of industry growth such as passive, funds of funds, and team-managed funds; women are 19 percent more likely to manage on a team than men. In addition, it appears difficult for women to achieve management roles in more-established parts of the fund industry, including actively managed funds and solo-managed funds. In fact, women are 36 percent less likely to manage an active equity fund than men.
The industry’s largest equity firms are more likely to name women as fund managers than smaller firms. Among funds at one of the top 10 largest firms by global equity assets under management, there are 83 percent higher odds that a woman would be named a fund manager.
Photo: Richard Garland during his presentation at the Global Insights 2016 / Courtesy photo. Investec: “We are Entering an Interesting, but also Potentially Dangerous, Moment in History”
This month, for the ninth consecutive year, Investec held its annual conference which brought together 150 delegates from the Americas, Europe and Asia. The location chosen for this year’s event was the InterContinental Hotel in New York, where the attendees were able to listen to presentations of the company’s star managers (photos of the event).
Up to 14 portfolio managers gave their vision on different assets. Michael Power, the firm’s strategist, Philip Saunders, co-Head of Multi-Asset Growth, John Stopford, Head of Multi-Asset Income, or the award-winning Ken Hsia, European Equity Portfolio Manager and member of Investec’s Global 4Factor Equity team, were part of the speakers list.
“The reason why we organize this event every year is because we want to offer our clients in the buy-side a vision very close to the markets of what is happening around the world. They need answers, and the professionals who are part of the Investec team can help them find them,” said Richard Garland, Managing Director of Global Advisory.
“In this conference, we also create a network of advisors who can help each other globally,” he said referring to the delegates. He also stated that because market leadership has changed significantly over the past 12 months, it is important to take stock and consider where opportunities exist.
“At Investec, we are convinced that investment power is moving from institutions to individuals, and that is why we are refocusing our business to make sure we are a solid global advisory firm,” Garland explained.
Investec, which in October of this year had US$115bn in assets under management, has 44% of the total invested in equities, 21% in multi-assets, 31% in fixed income and 4% in alternative investments.
For Investec’s Managing Director, this year, multi-assets have been the star of the portfolios. “They are becoming increasingly important because they offer our clients solutions; it is all about ‘income’. And that’s the reason this product is booming and that it’s going to stay that way for a while,” he said.
“As investors, we face many challenges. We cannot follow the indexes, we are active managers. But fees are under pressure. We see this in Europe, in the UK and in other places. What are we going to do? At Investec we have strategies with a high ‘active share’ that can give the portfolios an added element to beat the market,” added Garland, mentioning one of the most debated points in the industry.
A Changing World
In this regard, John Stopford, recommended adjusting portfolios, managing actively but also “being prepared for things that can go wrong.” For Philip Saunders, the world of investment has changed, partly due to the fact that the economy has been dominated by politics for too long.
And we always think that the West is the safest place to keep money, but in the last 18 months we have seen the risks grow, and it doesn’t seem as if that trend is going to change. “The Western world has turned its back on globalization. We are entering an interesting, but also potentially dangerous, moment in history. And not just for political reasons, but also on the economic side,” Michel Power observed.
“The companies we invest in have moved their production capacity to the East, and I believe that in the coming years we will see a lot of money going in that direction,” the company’s strategist advised.
Ken Hsia’s was perhaps the most positive of the presentations. And that’s because European equity is starting to experience improvements in line with the data of the region. “I’m less worried now. We see evidence of recovery in Europe. The strength may not be currently very good, but there are indicators that point out that the region is heading in the right direction and is improving,” he said.
Photo: JimmyReu, Flickr, Creative Commons. Luxembourg Secured Lending Funds: Attractive Alternative to Traditional Fixed Income for Wealth Managers
“It is remarkable…what a change of temper a fixed income will bring about”. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One´s Own.
Though few who practice our trade will admit it publically, the wealth management industry is immersed in an existential crisis. Quantitative easing by the world’s central banks has driven yields on high quality corporate bonds to near zero, and those of many sovereign nations to negative values. Traditional fixed income instruments are an essential tool of the wealth management industry and have been the mainstay of the classic “bonds/equities/hedge funds” asset allocation for decades. However, until yields rise from their current levels, government bonds and high quality corporate debt no longer add value to a portfolio. Rather, the fixed income allocation of a portfolio under current interest rate conditions adds credit and duration risk compensated by almost no return, or indeed a negative return.
If questioned as to why they persist in recommending traditional fixed income to their clients, wealth managers and asset allocators typically will state that “there is no alternative” as a justification for continuing to invest in this grossly overpriced asset class. It does not require a guru to see that market price and intrinsic value are clearly out of equilibrium in the fixed income markets, due to massive bond purchases by central banks and the increasingly frenzied search for yield by pension funds and insurance companies desperate to cover their future obligations. Even high yield bonds (formally known as junk bonds) now offer scant returns, as the hunger for yield overrides caution. From my point of view after twenty-five years of practice in the wealth management industry, to invest in an asset class that adds risk to a portfolio without providing return is tantamount to professional malpractice.
This being the case, where is a wealth manager to turn to secure attractive yields given the ongoing distortion of the traditional fixed income markets? Many wealth managers and family offices worldwide are turning to real estate as a substitute for fixed income, where rental yields replace bond yields. Investing in direct purchases of rent-generating properties as well as participations in real estate investment trusts and similar instruments is unarguably a reasonable move. However, I would suggest that many wealth managers are overlooking an alternative source of attractive yields that avoids the pitfalls of direct real estate purchase or participation in real estate funds, such as liquidity risk and exposure to real estate price cycles. This source is secured lendingfunds registered and regulated in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
There is an astounding width and depth of credit expertise to be found among the management teams of many of the secured lending funds registered as Luxembourg SICAV-SIFs. Luxembourg is second only to the United States in terms of mutual fund assets, totaling over 3,500 billion euros as of July 2016 according to the highly respected CSSF, the Luxembourg financial regulatory authority. Although the majority of Luxembourg-registered assets are daily liquidity retail funds under the UCITS umbrella, there are over 1,000 Luxembourg-registered SICAV-SIFs. These vehicles are by their very nature a wealth management rather than a retail product, as they are intended for well-informed investors and are subject to the Luxembourg Act of 13 February 2007 on specialized investment funds, as amended. For this reason, they are subject to a minimum investment requirement of 125 000 euros. Liquidity varies, but redemptions and NAV declarations are typically on a monthly basis.
Since there is no equivalent of Morningstar to collectively track the performance of the SICAV-SIFs, a great deal of outstanding investment and credit analysis talent in this segment has not received the attention it deserves. For example, among the SICAV-SIF managers, there are secured lending funds specializing in each of the various segments of the asset-backed lending spectrum, including financing account receivables, specialized small business lending, aviation and machinery leasing, trade finance and real estate bridge financing. Though the particulars are different in each case, the common element among these successful secured lending funds is that they lend their investor’s capital to finance selected short term opportunities in the real economy, with a sufficient guarantee to secure the loan and protect the fund’s NAV in case of a default. These funds normally operate in creditor-friendly jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom or Germany where assets pledged to secure a loan can be quickly transferred to the creditor if a default does occur. In short, these funds operate in a terrain that once belonged to traditional merchant banks, but is increasingly abandonded by the banks as they restructure in the face of Basel III capital requirements.
Given this track-record and the ease of investment in Luxembourg SICAF-SIFs for wealth management clients through their securities accounts, I would encourage private bankers, family offices and wealth managers in general to begin to think outside the box of traditional fixed income and real estate to give serious consideration to Luxembourg-registered secured lending funds as a source of attractive, stable, non-market correlated returns.
Opinion column by James Levy, Director of Clearwater Private Investment.
. Liquidity Management Top Priority for Fund Managers and Institutional Investors in New Market Environment
State Street Corporation in partnership with the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global representative of alternative investment managers, released a new research report that found that nearly half (48 percent) of survey respondents say that decreased market liquidity is a secular shift that is here to stay. Regulations stemming from the 2008 financial crisis, coupled with historically low interest rates and slow rates of growth in the global economy, have constrained the ability of many banks to perform their traditional roles as market makers, which in turn has impacted broader market liquidity conditions.
More than three-fifths of the survey respondents say current market liquidity conditions have impacted their investment management strategy, with nearly a third rating this impact as significant, and are reassessing how they manage risk in their investment portfolios. More broadly, they are adjusting to an environment of less liquidity in which trading roles have been transformed, new market entrants are emerging, and electronic platforms and peer-to-peer lending are changing the way firms transact their business.
“Increased regulation and the pressure to manage costs have significantly changed market liquidity conditions,” says Lou Maiuri, executive vice president and head of State Street’s Global Exchange and Global Markets businesses. “The new liquidity paradigm is causing many players in the investment industry to think again about the fundamentals: what roles they play, where they invest, and how they transact their business.”
While there is no one-size-fits all strategy for balancing risk and return in the current market environment, investors and managers are adapting to the new environment by focusing their efforts in three areas:
Rationalizing the risk
Optimizing the portfolio
New rules, new tools
49% say the role of non-bank institutions as liquidity providers will grow and 42% say that this growth will come from hedge funds Nearly half (47%) say hedge funds may play an important role in providing liquidity in more volatile markets. “With liquidity likely to remain top of mind for years to come, now is the time to find the strategies, tools, and solutions that will make a sustainable difference in the new investment climate,” continued Maiuri.
“Hedge funds and other asset managers are responding to more challenging market liquidity conditions by increasingly seeking out new opportunities, including taking on a more prominent role as market-makers, providing new sources of finance to the real economy, and lending their support and expertise to improving liquidity risk management,” added AIMA CEO Jack Inglis.
Gustavo Lozano, courtesy photo. Pioneer Investments Wins a Mandate for Mexican Afore XXI-Banorte
Global Asset Manager, Pioneer Investments, announced on Monday the appointment of an Asian Equity Mandate with Mexican pension fund manager, Afore XXI Banorte. The mandate, totaling close to USD 150 million, will be actively managed by the specialist Asian Equities investment team at Pioneer Investments’ London hub. Pioneer Investments, which currently has USD 246 billion of Assets Under Management globally, has been managing Asian Equity assets since April 2008 based on a consistently applied philosophy and process. This approach has provided a strong track record over the medium to long term through all market cycles.
Afore XXI Banorte, the pension fund manager in Mexico, awarded Pioneer Investments the mandate as it diversifies its investment strategy and seeks to provide its customers with access to investment opportunities across the international markets. To date, Afore XXI Banorte has funded one previous mandate on European Equity Markets with Schroders and BlackRock and this is the second project that they are awarding. The funding period is expected to be quicker than previous industry experiences on the back of regulation flexibility and experience acquired.
The Asian Equity mandate, a segregated account close to USD 150 million, follows an original pan Asiatic approach that includes Japan. This allows the investor to benefit from emerging Asia potential while investing in developed market companies based in Japan and Australia.
Gustavo Lozano, Country Head of Pioneer Investments Mexico, commented: ‘’We are delighted to be able to partner with Afore XXI Banorte. We have been working with them and other pension funds to develop of long-term institutional relationships in an integral relationship where knowledge transfer and investment capabilities are key. We believe that our fundamental, proprietary research-driven approach to investment in Asian Equities stood out through the selection process, and we look forward to building a rewarding relationship with the Afore going forward.’’
Jose Castellano, Head of Iberia, North America Offshore & Latin American Markets at Pioneer Investments, noted: ‘’ Pioneer Investments opened a Mexico Office in 2012 and being able to work with Afore XXI Banorte is the culmination of efforts from a variety of areas of our business. Afore XXI-Banorte is the largest pension fund in Mexico and key for our consolidation as a top international active manager in the country and the region. We believe that our best-in-class service proposition together with our investment expertise is key to developing long-term relationships. We are honored to be awarded this mandate by Afore XXI Banorte, and we will continue to work closely with them to secure both a high quality of service and strong long-term performance.’’
Sergio Mendez, CIO for Afore XXI Banorte noted: “We selected Pioneer Investments for the strength of their process, their performance record, original investment proposition and the stability of the investment team. We are excited to be moving forward with Pioneer Investments, giving the Mexican pension fund market access to international expertise. Afore XXI-Banorte continues its diversification in international markets building strong and beneficial partnerships with the global Asset management community that will benefit Mexican pensioners in the long run.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, Flickr. Standard Life Investments Extends Ryder Cup Deal
Following the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota last Fall, where the US regained the trophy, the global asset manager, Standard Life Investments, confirmed that it has extended its ground-breaking sponsorship of The Ryder Cup to include the 2018 contest, which will be played at Le Golf National, Paris, France, from September 28-30 2018.
Commenting on the extension, Nuala Walsh, Global Head of Marketing & Client Relations at Standard Life Investments, said: “The Ryder Cup continues to reflect and complement our commitment to fostering team spirit in order to deliver performance excellence. Following the 2016 contest at Hazeltine National in Minnesota, and our close partnership with the European Tour, we are thrilled to announce an extended commercial agreement for The 2018 Ryder Cup.”
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of The European Tour, the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe, welcomed the extended partnership: “The Ryder Cup is one of the most prestigious events in sport and Standard Life Investments both share and exemplify our values of integrity and the pursuit of potential. We are delighted that they have chosen to extend their partnership with The Ryder Cup and we look forward to working together to deliver another world-class contest in Paris in 2018.”
Standard Life Investments became the first Worldwide Partner of The Ryder Cup in February 2013, sponsorship which included both Europe’s victory at Gleneagles in 2014 and the recent US triumph at Hazeltine National in 2016.
Foto: AedoPulltrone, Flickr, Creative Commons. Aviva to Lift UK Property Fund Suspension On December 15th
Aviva Investors has announced it will resume trading of its £1.5bn Property Trust on 15 December, having suspended the fund on 4 July to implement a “sustainable sales programme” in order to raise liquidity.
In a note sent to investors seen by InvestmentEurope, the asset manager said the trust has sold 11 properties totalling £212m between the EU referendum vote and 17 November 2016. The temporary suspension has allowed the company to be selective with its orderly sales programme, and ensure the retained portfolio remains “robust and well diversified.”
“There have been no forced sales, and we have focused on taking the right time to obtain the best value on sales, whilst retaining core assets and maintaining a balanced UK commercial property portfolio. Prices achieved have been broadly in line with market valuation changes since the EU referendum vote,” the note reads.
“The sales have been selected in line with our wider real estate strategy to focus on fewer centres, and values achieved have been broadly in line with market valuation changes since the EU referendum vote. We are confident that the trust holds a robust and diverse portfolio of properties; providing significant potential for growth, a strong income stream and the opportunity for further income growth,” Ed Casal, CEO of Aviva Investors Real Estate, said.
“Despite the recent uncertainty in the market, yields on property remain relatively attractive in a low interest rate environment. We believe there is a convincing place for the asset class within a balanced portfolio for long-term investors,” he added.
Fund co-manager retires
Aviva has also announced that Mike Luscombe, co-manager of the fund, will retire at the end of January. Following his departure, Andrew Hook, co-manager of the fund since March 2015, will assume the role of lead manager.
Hook joined Aviva in 2007 and has over 15 years’ industry experience.
“He has played a key role in the repositioning of the trust’s portfolio over the past year, and will be supported by a dedicated and experienced asset management team along with the newly-established UK transaction team, who between them help source, develop and manage the properties in the portfolio,” the note reads.
Photo: Keitikee, Flickr, Creative Commons.. Growth in Global Wealth Remains Limited in 2016
According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s (CSRI) seventh annual Global Wealth Report, the overall growth in global wealth remained limited in 2016, continuing the trend that emerged in 2013 and contrasting sharply with the double-digit growth rates witnessed before the global financial crisis of 2008.
In the mid-term, only moderate acceleration is expected. Switzerland once again ranked as the global leader in terms of average wealth per adult in 2016.
As the latest edition of the CSRI Global Wealth Report shows, total global wealth in 2016 edged upwards by USD 3.5 trillion to a total of USD 256 trillion (or 1.4%), a rise very much in line with the increase in the world’s adult population. Accordingly, average wealth per adult of USD 52,800 remains in line with last year’s figures.
Brexit vote hits wealth
The UK suffered a significant drop in wealth in 2016, with USD 1.5 trillion being wiped off household wealth in response to the Brexit vote, which triggered a sharp decline in exchange rates and the stock market.
Michael O’Sullivan, Chief Investment Officer of International Wealth Management at Credit Suisse, stated: “The impact of the Brexit vote is widely thought of in terms of GDP but the impact on household wealth bears watching. Since the Brexit vote, UK household wealth has fallen by USD 1.5 trillion. Wealth per adult has already dropped by USD 33,000 to USD 289,000 since the end of June. In fact, in US dollar terms, 406,000 people in the UK are no longer millionaires.”
Japan rises, distribution of Chinese wealth growth more unequal
The Global Wealth Report also highlights the impact of adverse currency movements, which caused wealth to fall in every region except Asia-Pacific. The highest rise in wealth amongst individual countries was achieved by Japan with a total increase of USD 3.9 trillion, followed by a USD 1.7 trillion rise in the US. Switzerland once again topped the rankings in terms of average wealth per adult. Despite a decline in average adult wealth, its leading position remains unchallenged.
Loris Centola, Global Head of Research of International Wealth Management, said: “The consequences of the 2008-2009 recession will continue to have a material impact on growth, which is pointing more and more towards a long-term stagnation. The emergence of a multi-polar world, confirmed by the impact of the Brexit vote in the UK and by the US Presidential election, is likely to exacerbate such a trend, which could possibly lead to a new normal lower rate of wealth growth.”
Key themes addressed in the Global Wealth Report include:
Wealth outlook
Trends in the number of millionaires
The wealth pyramid
Bottom billion
Inequality
For a copy of the Global Wealth Report 2016, follow this link.
