CC-BY-SA-2.0, Flickr. Amundi ficha a Bruno Taillardat como responsable de Smart Beta
Amundi ha anunciado el nombramiento de Bruno Taillardat como responsable de Smart Beta.
Bruno empezó su carrera en BNP Paribas Asset Management donde fue responsable de Análisis Cuantitativo en el equipo de Renta Variable Internacional desde 1998 a 2007.
Se incorporó a Unigestion en marzo de 2007 como gestor senior dentro del equipo de renta variable. Más tarde se convirtió en Investment Director responsable del análisis cuantitativo y fundamental.
Bruno tiene un postgrado en Matemáticas de la Universidad de Marsella y ha completado programas de educación en el IMD Business School en Lausanne.
Perhaps the biggest criticism of the Federal Reserve’s response to the recent financial crisis, specifically regarding its asset-purchasing program known as quantitative easing (QE), is that it exacerbated the country’s already historic level of income inequality.
But should the potential widening of the wealth gap be a consideration for central bankers when they set monetary policy?
The answer to that question, if there is one, is less than straightforward, according to an article published by S&P Global, titled «Should The Fed Consider Income Inequality When Setting Monetary Policy?»
«While it’s true that the short-term effects of QE, and the loosening of monetary policy overall, likely helped those at the top more than others, the longer-term benefits have been more widespread,» said S&P Global’s U.S. Chief EconomistBeth Ann Bovino. «In fact, we calculate that without the third round of QE that the Fed implemented in the fourth quarter of 2012, about 1.9 million fewer jobs would have been added to the world’s biggest economy, and, using Okun’s Law, U.S. real GDP would have been US$ 350 billion lower.»
«Amid ample evidence that increased wealth concentration may make monetary policy less effective, we don’t believe it’s prudent for the Fed to consider the impact of monetary policy on income inequality, but, rather, that it would be wise for central bankers to consider the impact of income inequality on monetary-policy effectiveness,» said Ms. Bovino.
Because the effects of monetary policy vary, it would be unreasonable to expect a loosening of monetary policy to benefit everyone equally, and the fact that moves such as QE might improve the lot of some more than others is hardly a reason for central banks not to do their basic job of supporting the macro economy.
This could matter, given the Federal Open Market Committee’s lower estimated «neutral rate,» policymakers have less room to use traditional monetary policy during a downturn, suggesting that QE (or another alternative form of easing) may still be in the cards.
Unigestion, the boutique asset manager with scale, has announced that Edouard Merette has been appointed as non-executive Chairman of the board of Unigestion Asia.
Based in Singapore, Merette will be instrumental in leading the firm’s strategy for growth in the region, working with the whole of Unigestion’s senior management team.
Merette was previously Managing Director, Asia Pacific, for the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, one of Canada’s largest fund managers and has over 25 years of corporate management experience in Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. His track record of building and leading businesses in the professional services sector include seven years as Chief Executive for Aon Hewitt, Asia Pacific and six years as a member of Mercer’s Global Executive Committee, the last year of which he was President, Asia Pacific.
Merette replaces Bill Foo, who served as chairman for five years, but who remains a member of the board.
Bernard Sabrier, Group Chairman of Unigestion said of the appointment: “We are thrilled that Edouard is joining our global family. With our increasing presence in Asia since establishing our office in Singapore in 2007, we see the region as one of long term growth for Unigestion. Edouard’s profile and experience globally, together with his knowledge of the Asian financial markets will help us establish strong relationships with Asian investors.”
Edouard Merette commented: “Unigestion has a compelling proposition for Asian investors, who value sound investment principles based on tailored, risk managed exposure across diversified asset classes. For me, Unigestion is an ideal fit given its global footprint and outlook. I very much look forward to working with my new colleagues to build on Unigestion’s success both in the region and globally.”
According to the latest research from Cerulli Associates, a global analytics firm, in certain instances, women have different investment strategies and viewpoints than their male counterparts.
«There is opportunity for providers willing to commit resources to target this unique demographic,» states Shaun Quirk, senior analyst at Cerulli. «Especially as females play more prominent roles in the financial planning process.»
«We explore investor portfolio involvement in relation to gender,» Quirk explains. «Fewer than one-third of women believe they ‘need very little advice’ when investing, compared with nearly half (49%) of male respondents. This data can help providers develop strategies to market products and services tailored to meet the evolving needs of female investors.»
«There is a popular belief that men tend to be more involved in the investment process than women,» Quirk continues. «According to our data, almost 60% of male investors surveyed indicate a desire to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of their portfolio, versus just 42% of women.»
«Some industry professionals suggest that women are more likely to implement long-term, goal-oriented investment strategies that do not require day-to-day trading,» Quirk says. «With this in mind, providers can position planning tools and holistic wealth management solutions that align with their female clients’ views on portfolio management.»
There is still relatively little differentiation across firm products and platforms to target female investors. Cerulli believes that financial services providers can objectively analyze the differences between the two cohorts for perspective on how to communicate and market products to these two distinct segments in relation to investing and planning for retirement.
Cerulli’s third quarter 2016 issue of The Cerulli Edge – U.S. Retail Investor Edition explores what drives female investors, how women can successfully plan for retirement, and the unique challenges the wage gap presents for women.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Melges Rocks / Vimeo. Operando entre la multitud
La percepción del riesgo ha dominado los mercados en un mundo posterior al voto por la salida del Reino Unido de la Unión Europea, que además se caracteriza por expectativas de tasas de interés más bajas por más tiempo. El resultado es que algunas inversiones se han vuelto muy populares, y los inversionistas deben actuar con cautela.
El gráfico anterior indica dónde se encuentra el mayor grado de actividad operativa en función de nuestro análisis del flujo de fondos, el posicionamiento de los fondos y el impulso de los precios. Consideramos populares las posiciones con puntajes de entre 1 y 2 (y -1 y -2) y muy populares aquellas con puntajes por encima de 2 (y por debajo de -2). Las inversiones más populares en este momento: sobreponderaciones de los bonos del gobierno del Reino Unido (gilts), deuda soberana de los mercados emergentes (ME), crédito y oro de mercados desarrollados y la infraponderación de las acciones de la eurozona.
Es fundamental manejar el riesgo
La popularidad de las inversiones no nos indica mucho con respecto a la dirección de los rendimientos a largo plazo (es decir, los próximos 12 meses). De hecho, consideramos que muchas de las transacciones de consenso actuales podrían ganar a largo plazo, dado que persisten el crecimiento económico bajo y las tasas de interés bajas.
Sin embargo, algunas posiciones populares se acercan a niveles extremos (puntajes por encima de 2 y por debajo de -2), lo cual consideramos que es una señal importante de riesgo a corto plazo. Estas posiciones podrían ser vulnerables a un impacto en el mercado o al aumento de la volatilidad, especialmente cuando se combinan con valoraciones altas. Es importante ser selectivos para manejar este riesgo.
Recomendamos reducir las posiciones populares donde los precios se hayan movido más allá de los factores fundamentales (entre los ejemplos de esto, están los gilts y las áreas representativas del mercado de bonos, tales como las acciones del sector de servicios públicos). También recomendamos evitar adoptar posiciones opuestas en sectores que enfrentan grandes cambios estructurales (por ejemplo, los bancos europeos). Sin embargo, aún vale la pena considerar las sobreponderaciones con factores fundamentales y valoraciones que den respaldo (tales como la deuda de los mercados emergentes y el crédito de los EE. UU.), y el oro puede ofrecer ventajas de diversificación de las carteras. De acuerdo con EPFR Global, han ingresado más de 8.000 millones de dólares a las acciones de dividendos desde el voto por la salida del Reino Unido de la Unión Europea. Nos inclinamos por el crecimiento de los dividendos en lugar del rendimiento de los dividendos. Nuestra posición con respecto a las acciones sobreponderadas de los ME no parece popular, a pesar de los recientes flujos hacia la clase de activos.
En conclusión, hay que estar atento a los riesgos a corto plazo en las transacciones de consenso y buscar oportunidades potenciales donde aún no haya actividad operativa multitudinaria.
Columna Build on Insight, de BlackRock escrita por Richard Turnill
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Morton2905, Flickr, Creative Commons. Amundi se convierte en accionista mayoritario de KBI tras comprar un 87,5% a Oddo & Cie
Tal y como se anunció el pasado 23 de mayo, Amundi finalizó ayer la compra del 87,5% de Kleinwort Benson Investors (KBI) a Oddo & Cie. Así, KBI pertenece ahora al grupo Amundi, mientras el equipo de gestión de KBI ha adquirido el restante 12,5% del capital.
Tras la compra, KBI ahora será KBI Global Investors (KBIGI), una marca que subraya la rica herencia de la compañía y la identifica de forma clara en los mercados internacionales, ha señalado Amundi en un comunicado.
KBI Global Investors es una firma de gestión especializada en renta variable. Con sede en Dublín, y oficinas en Boston y Nueva York, emplea a 62 personas. Sus equipos de gestión, con gran experiencia, gestionan 8.100 millones de euros (a fecha 31 de julio de 2016, principalmente en estrategias bursátiles). La gestora ha visto crecer sus activos un 28% de media entre 2011 y 2015.
Según el comunicado, Amundi y KBI Global Investors son “altamente complementarios” en términos de productos y foco geográfico: el expertise de KBI Global Investors en renta variable global fortalecerá la oferta de bolsa de Amundi; a cambio, KBI Global Investors se apalancará en la presencia retail e institucional de Amundi en Europa, Asia y Oriente Medio.
“Estamos encantados de dar la bienvenida al grupo Amundi a KBI Global Investors. La compra es parte de nuestra estrategia de ofrecer las soluciones de inversión más efectivas a nuestros clientes, tanto minoristas como institucionales. KBI Global Investors también fortalecerá nuestra oferta de renta variable”, comentó Yves Perrier, CEO de Amundi.
“Como parte del grupo Amundi, tenemos la plataforma ideal para crecer”, señaló Sean Hawkshaw, CEO de KBI Global Investors.
Prudential’s Asian investment branch, Eastspring Investments, has promoted Phil Stockwell to Chief Executive Officer of its Singapore business effective as of September 1st. Stockwell had been the Chief Operating Officer of Eastspring Investments, company he joined in September 2014.
He will report to Guy Strapp, Eastspring Investments chief executive, and will be responsible for the operations of the largest of Eastspring’s 10 Asia offices. He is also responsible for the environment around their portfolio managers in Singapore so they can focus on alpha generating activities.
Prior to joining Eastspring Investments, Phil was COO of BT Investment Management in Australia, a publically listed fund manager and part of Westpac Banking Corporation. In his role, Phil was responsible for the leadership of product development, product management, client services, dealing, investment operations, IT, risk and compliance, and company secretarial and legal. Phil has also been a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, and with KPMG Consulting. Phil has over 13 years of investment industry experience.
Phil holds an MBA from Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), UNSW, Sydney and a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Queensland, Brisbane. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
UCITS compliant absolute return funds have outperformed hedge funds over the past five years, according to a study conducted by independent asset manager Lupus Alpha.
The research, conducted among a universe of 564 alternative absolute return funds, revealed that over a five-year time period, UCITS regulated absolute return funds offered an average return of 2.72% per year, whereas hedge funds lost an average of -0.46% per year.
Over a one-year time scale, the picture was even gloomier with less than 30% of funds offering positive returns, ironically due to the high level of volatility at the beginning of the year. Added to that was a relatively high level of European equity exposure among most funds, which further dragged down performance throughout 2016.
Overall, absolute return funds offered an average return of -3.55% over the past five years, with unregulated hedge fund vehicles at the bottom-end of the scale, offering -5.63%. However, they still outperformed the European equity universe, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index falling by -13.89% throughout the same period.
Independent of average returns, the survey concluded that profitability varied greatly depending on the provider, with some asset managers offering returns of 20.56% over the past years, while others reported losses of -23.63%.
Ralf Lochmüller, founding partner and spokesperson for Lupus Alpha comments: “The performance of individual absolute return funds can vary greatly, we have noticed clear difference in terms of quality. Our research highlight that manager selection should remain a key priority for investors in order to achieve stable returns independent of the market phase.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: charlemange / Pixabay. Algunas fundaciones y fondos están reevaluando el uso de los hedge funds
De acuerdo con la última encuesta de la consultora NEPC que mide la confianza de fundaciones y gestores privados en la economía las inversiones y el rendimiento del mercado, existe una gran preocupación acerca de las altas comisiones, el bajo rendimiento y la poca transparencia de los hedge funds.
«Si bien los hedge funds juegan un papel importante en muchas carteras institucionales, los últimos años han sido difíciles para la industria y los inversores están empezando a mirar muy de cerca cómo los hedge funds pueden trabajar para ellos», dijo Cathy Konicki, socia en NEPC. «Estos resultados no indican un éxodo masivo de los hedge funds, pero sí apuntan a una mayor presión en la industria en su conjunto.»
Según la encuesta, el 24% de los inversores confesaron no tener exposición alguna a los hedge funds y sólo 23% citó mantener entre 11 y 20% de su cartera invertida en hedge funds.
Una de las principales preocupaciones es la de las comisiones, una cuarta parte de los encuestados han pedido o recibido reducciones a las mismas en los últimos seis meses. El 54% de los encuestados citaron a las comisiones como uno de los desafíos más grandes que enfrentan con sus inversiones de hedge funds, superado sólo por los bajos rendimientos que preocupan al 80% de los encuestados. Por su parte la poca transparencia preocupa a el 37% de los encuestados.
Sobre los cambios de asignación, y mientras que el 28% de los encuestados dijeron que han reducido o bien se encuentran considerando la reducción de su asignación a los hedge funds, el 55% no está discutiendo activamente esto con su comité de inversión, y casi una quinta parte de los encuestados (17%) han aumentado o planean crecer su asignación. Las estrategias más populares y de las que esperan los mejores resultados dentro de 3 a 5 años son las multiestrategias con el 36% de los seguidos de las Long / Short Equity (33%), Global Macro (25%) y créditos (22%).
Otros resultados de la encuesta incluyen:
50% dice que la economía de Estados Unidos ha empeorado en el ultimo año
52% dice que una desaceleración del crecimiento mundial plantea la mayor amenaza a corto plazo para sus carteras
El aumento de las tasas de interés es la segunda preocupación más citada (16%)
Conundrum Presidencial: 70% de los encuestados piensan que Hillary Clinton va a ganar la próxima elección presidencial, pero están divididos sobre quién tendría un impacto más positivo en los mercados de Estados Unidos y su cartera
According to companies’ survey in Germany and in France the economic activity was marginally down in August. German’s companies were a little more pessimistic for the 6 month period to come.
Even if levels are different we perceive in the following graph that there is a kind of stability in economic activity during the last twelve months. This synchronization of the business cycle suggest that France and Germany cannot really expect a stronger growth momentum in the short run. In other words, it seems that German and French economic activity are not able to accelerate from their current level. It’s not worrisome for Germany as its unemployment rate is low but it is problematic for France as its unemployment rate is just below 10%. As there is no impulse from outside as world trade trend is flat, it means that the impulse must come from inside. The ECB has done the job so we must expect a more proactive fiscal policy in order to jump on a higher trajectory.
For Germany, the main source of weakness is a slowdown in expectations. The index is back to 100.1 which is marginally below its historical average (100.3). The current condition index (112.8) is weaker but at a level way above its historical average (103.2).
In France, the Personal Outlook index on Production is shifting downward in the industrial sector. There is, both Germany and France, the perception by companies that the economic activity will not have the necessary impulses that could provoke an acceleration in the economic momentum. This can be linked with Brexit and its consequences or by the fact that the global situation is at risks and not only on economic side. We see political risks almost everywhere (elections in the US, in France, referendum in Italy, Brexit,…) and this could be a drag for economic growth.
The detail of each survey shows that internal demand has been weaker in August. This can be seen on the German graph below. There is a deep drop in retailing and in wholesaling in August.
In France the main source of concern is the weaker momentum in the industry. All indices are close to their historical level (except construction) and there is no source of rapid improvement. The industrial sector was perceived as stronger 3 to 6 months ago but this is no longer the case and its recent momentum is problematic. This means that we can have a rebound in the third quarter for GDP (after 0 in Q2) but the government target growth of 1.5% for 2016 will not be reached.
