According to the latest monthly snapshot of European fund flow trends (data as at end September 2015) from Thomson Reuters, while the European funds industry faced estimated net outflows of €17 billion from long-term mutual funds for September, the ten best selling funds that month gathered net inflows of €13.1 billion.
BlackRock ICS Institutional USD Liquidity Core Acc was the best selling individual fund for September, netting €1.7 billion inflows. In total, the ten best selling funds – seven money market products, three equity funds and one mixed-asset fund- gathered net inflows of €10.3 billion for September.
Mixed-asset funds, with net inflows of €2 billion, were the best selling asset class overall, followed by alternative UCITS products, which added €1.8 billion, and real estate funds with inflows of €400 million. Money market products faced overall net outflows of €14.4 billion for September.
The single fund markets with the highest net inflows for September were:
United Kingdom €3.7 billion
Germany €1.7 billion
Switzerland €0.4 billion
While the higher outflows came from:
France -€19.8 billion
Luxembourg -€9.3 billion
Netherlands -€4.0 billion
BlackRock, with net sales of €6.1 billion, was the best selling group for September overall, ahead of Standard Life with €1.4 billion and Vanguard which sold €1.1 billion.
Jaguar Growth Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on real assets in growth markets globally, announced the opening of its office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jaguar Growth Investimentos do Brasil Ltda, will be headed by Christian Klotz and Ricardo Costa, two recent additions to the firm’s growing team. The new office establishes Jaguar’s presence in Latin America with investment and asset management activities in Brazil and throughout the region.
«We understand the importance of a local presence, strengthening our relationships with entrepreneurs, private equity firms and others in the region,» said Jaguar´s managing partner Thomas McDonald. «Our presence in Brazil is the first of several strategic office locations, highly-important and distinguishing for Jaguar Growth Partners,» added managing partner Gary Garrabrant.
Prior to joining Jaguar, Mr. Klotz co-founded UJAY Capital, an investment fund focused on Brazilian and Latin American listed equity and macro securities. At UJAY, he was the portfolio manager of the long-short equity fund with investments in various sectors including real estate, while based in Sao Paulo. Prior to UJAY Capital, Mr. Klotz was a portfolio analyst at Pollux Capital, a Brazilian based asset manager. He has served as a director for several publicly-listed real estate and industrial companies in Brazil including Abyara and Portobello. Mr. Klotz holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Instituto Maua de Tecnologia in Brazil and received his MBA from the Columbia Business School, University of Columbia, and Walter Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.
Prior to joining Jaguar, Mr. Costa was a Partner at Gavea Investimentos, one of the largest alternative investment managers in Brazil with over US$ 7 billion in assets under management, controlled by JP Morgan Asset Management. Mr. Costa joined the private equity division of Gavea in December 2010 as a principal, becoming a partner in January 2013. At Gavea, Mr. Costa led several investments in the retail, logistics, services and telecom sectors, and was a board member of Camisaria Colombo, Cell Site Solutions (CSS), Rumo Logistica and Simpress. In October 2013, Mr. Costa assumed the CFO role and interim management of CSS, a co-investment of Gavea and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking capitalizing on the opportunity to explore the growing telecom towers market in Brazil. From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Costa worked as an associate at Votorantim Novos Negocios (VNN), the private equity and venture capital arm of Votorantim Group, one of the largest Latin American industrial conglomerates, where he was responsible for the investments in IT/BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and services sectors. Mr. Costa graduated from Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo (FGV-EAESP), where he received a BA in Business Administration, and is currently pursuing an MBA.
Alvin E. Roth, Nobel Laureate, 2012. 'Nobel Perspectives' abre las puertas a la vida y mente de los Premios Nobel de Economía
¿Alguna vez se ha preguntado cómo viven las mentes más destadas en economía? ¿O cuál es su postura respecto a los acontecimientos recientes? El banco UBS anunció que, junto a Frank y Thomas Elstner, ejecutivos de televisión en Alemania, ya está disponible la primera entrega de ‘Nobel Perspectives‘, una plataforma digital que, durante los próximos dos años, presentará unas 40 entrevistas filmadas a Premios Nobel de Economía.
Según Frank Elstner, «por haber entrevistado a galardonados con el Premio Nobel desde la década de 1980, me doy cuenta de cuánto tiene en común esta gente extraordinaria: paciencia infinita, gran curiosidad, determinación confiable y, sobre todo, modestia. Éstos no solo son pensadores progresistas sino también modelos a seguir para una vida en una sociedad tolerante. Estoy feliz de que hayamos encontrado en UBS un socio que garantice un largo futuro para este proyecto».
Entre otros, los ganadores de Premio Nobel de Ciencias Económicas que figurarán en el proyecto son: Kenneth J. Arrow, James M. Buchanan Jr., Gérard Debreu, Lawrence R. Klein, Finn Kydland, Wassily Leontief, Sir Arthur Lewis, James E. Meade, Merton H. Miller, Christopher Pissarides, Alvin E. Roth, Paul A. Samuelson, Theodore W. Schultz, William F. Sharpe, Herbert A. Simon y Robert M. Solow.
El primer perfil explora el trabajo del teórico de juegos Alvin E. Roth, quien toca temas como las leyes que necesitan los mercados para operar libremente así como lo que los trasplantes de riñón nos pueden enseñar sobre las operaciones bursátiles.
Durante los próximos dos años y al menos una vez al mes, se agregarán más entrevistas y material al sitio junto con comentario y análisis complementario de Tim Harford, de ‘Undercover Economist’, y del economista Global de UBS, Paul Donovan.
El próximo perfil es el de Finn E. Kydland, ganador del Premio Nobel de Ciencias Económicas 2004, quien hablará sobre que es lo que hace una buena política monetaria.
Para ver la entrevista del Alvin E. Roth siga este link.
Foto: Youtube. La SEC marca nuevos récords en el número de expedientes y en su importe
La SEC ha presentado los resultados correspondientes al ejercicio fiscal 2015, que terminó en septiembre, en los que se muestra que durante dicho periodo abrió 807 expedientes y recibió 4.200 millones de dólares en descargas y penalizaciones, marcando cifras récord en ambos casos.
De los 807 dosieres iniciados en 2015, 507 correspondieron a acciones independientes por violaciones de las leyes federales de valores y 300 se debieron bien a acciones contra emisores que fallaron en el reporte de actividades a la SEC, bien a procesos administrativos. En el ejercicio 2014, las cifras fueron de 775 expedientes y 4.160 millones de dólares, respectivamente.
Entre las nuevas acciones que ha emprendido este años la SEC cabe destacar el expediente abierto a un asesor de private equity por incorrecta asignación de gastos o la penalización a una gran agencia de rating.
Mary Jo White, presidenta de la SEC desde abril de 2013, dijo que la decidida y amplia imposición de las normas protege a los inversores y les asegura que los mercados financieros de Estados Unidos funcionan con integridad y transparencia. White afirmó que el hecho de que la comisión haya perseguido nuevas sanciones es un aviso a aquellos potenciales incumplidores.
Foto: Thomas8047
. Los hedge funds van camino de registrar su peor ejercicio desde 2011, aunque superan al S&P 500
El benchmark de Preqin sobre hedge fundsmuestra un retorno negativo del 1,44% en septiembre, marcando otro mes difícil para los hedge funds, ya que los fondos de valor relativo fueron las únicas estrategias en arrojar unos resultados positivos. Este es el cuarto mes consecutivo de retornos negativos en los hedge funds y, así, éste es el periodo en rojo más largo desde el de junio a noviembre de 2008.
Los retornos acumulados del año se sitúan en sólo el 0,18% y 2015 va camino de convertirse en el año con menores retornos desde 2011. Sin embargo, con el S&P 500 arrojando una rentabilidad en los nueve primeros meses del año del -3,14%, los hedge funds siguen batiendo a los mercados de renta variable.
On Monday October 19th, the Government of Uruguay, following the line used by other emerging countries, sought after external funding prior to the US Federal Reserve decides to raiseinterest rates. Uruguay, which has investment grade ratings of Baa2 / BBB / BBB-, launched a global bond US dollar denominated maturing at 2027, and it also offered to buy back government bonds maturing at 2017, 2022, 2024 and 2025; whose outstanding amount is around 2,800 million dollars, according to Reuters.
Uruguay launched its new 2027 maturing US dollar denominated bonds at a spread of Treasuries plus 245bp, according to one of the lead managers of the transaction. The launch spread is at the tight end of guidance of 250bp area and inside initial price thoughts of 265bp area. The amortizing bond has an average life of around 11 years and is part of a broader liability management operation.
The deal is being done in conjunction with a one-day cash tender for outstanding 9.25% 2017s, 8% 2022s, 4.5% 2024s and 6.875% 2025s, for which Uruguay is offering a purchase price of 114, 127.50, 106.00 and 119, respectively.
The new money component of the trade is around US$ 1.2 billion, the lead manager said. Citigroup, HSBC and Itau BBA are the lead managers on the transaction.
According to Axa IM, you can add risky assets in the short term “but beware of 2016”. The asset manager believes that after a sharp slowdown in the first half of the year, the global economy is stabilizing. “Yet, sluggish demand, -especially in China, led us to trim our global GDP forecast for 2016 from 3.3% to 3.1%.”
They believe that while US consumers remain on a strong footing, weaker global demand will weigh on the manufacturing sector, thus they see US growth at 2.2% in 2016, down from the previous 2.5%. In regards to China, because of a construction overhang, their estimate is 6.3%. In Europe and on the back of the VW scandal, they believe growth will be of 1.4%.
Considering the softer environment lived in the first half of 2015, Axa thinks growth will prevail. “If anything, the next quarters might see a gentle improvement in growth momentum” they say, adding that they do not believe that the later-than- expected Fed hike is a negative, that valuations have corrected sufficiently and that equity markets “are simply oversold”.
Nevertheless they warn that “While we remain overweight in the near term, we reckon that clouds are gathering over our longer term equity view. Today we suggest reducing our long-held overweight. First, 2016 is expected to see mildly weaker overall growth around the globe and the risks for 2017 are presumably skewed to the downside.”
Foto: August Brill
. Londres supera a Nueva York y lidera el Global Financial Centers Index
Londres ha superado a Nueva York para hacerse con la primera posición de la decimoctava edición del Global Financial Centres Index, publicado por Z/Yen Group y patrocinado por la Qatar Financial Centre Authority. El ranking analiza 84 centros financieros y son Londres, Nueva York, Hong Kong y Singapur los que ocupan las primeras posiciones, repitiendo con respecto a la anterior edición.
Londres ha subido 12 posiciones para superar a Nueva York por ocho puntos. Pero teniendo en cuenta que el GFCI se realiza sobre una escala de 1.000 puntos, una diferencia de ocho no es muy significativa. “Preferimos ver a Londres y Nueva York como complementarias más que como competidoras” dice la compañía.
Los centros financieros de Europa Occidental muestran signos de recuperación. Los principales centros de la zona son Londres, Zúrich y Ginebra –que repiten en los mismos puestos-, y Frankfurt -que ha mejorado hasta la cuarta posición-, seguido por Luxemburgo. De los 29 centros de la región, 23 han mejorado su clasificación -destacando especialmente Dublín-, Liechtenstein aparece por primera vez –en el puesto número 60- y Reikiavikcontinúa sufriendo cierto declive.
Por su parte, los centros financieros de Europa de Este prosperan y son Varsovia –en el puesto 38- y Estambul los mejor posicionados en una región que ha visto crecer en importancia a sus siete mayores centros y caer a San Petersburgo.
12 de los 15 centros financieros de la región de Asia-Pacífico han visto mejorar en su clasificación, a excepción de Hong Kong y Singapur –que ya estaban entre los cuatro más importantes- que lideran la clasificación regional, seguidos por Tokio y Seúl –que también tiene plaza entre los 10 mayores globalmente-.
Los centros de Estados Unidos y Canadá están bien posicionados, sin embargo, debido a la mejora de los centros asiáticos, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Vancouver y Calgary han visto algo mermada su influencia. Toronto se mantiene como capital financiera de Canadá y es el segundo mayor centro financiero de la zona, sólo superado por Nueva York.
Sao Paulo y Rio de Janeiro suben con fuerza. Sao Paulo continúa siendo el centro financiero por excelencia de América Latina y, junto con Rio de Janeiro, ha experimentado un importante progreso. No así en el caso de México, que ha sido el único en caer. Las Islas Caimán y Bahamas también experimentaron mejoras.
Mark Yeandle, director asociado de Z/Yen Group y autor del GFCI destaca que “mientras Londres y Nueva York todavía mantienen el liderazgo, los siguientes cuatro centros en importancia son asiáticos”.
Even though the rapid decline in oil prices is coming to an end, for many oil producers -like those in the shale market in the US and offshore oil fields-, the current oil price is a problem. According to Chris Iggo, CIO Fixed Income Europe and Asia at AXA Investment Managers, “lower prices are pushing commodity-reliant countries to devalue their currencies and Saudi Arabia recently announced that the current oil price has forced them to sell some foreign investments to cover a fund deficit.”
Nick Hayes, manager of the AXA WF Global Strategic Bonds, believes that“The declining oil price has also impacted high yield markets… We favour nominal bonds over inflation-linked bonds given the outlook for inflation. The main concern for us now is where oil prices will settle, and it’s important for fixed income investors to lower their expectations of inflation given the chance that falling commodity prices will continue to impact the level of inflation.”
During the last year, the managers have been decreasing the amount of high yield and emerging market debt exposure and they believe that we will see a rise in government bond yields once the current risk-off environment subsides. “A bear market in credit has created opportunities for us – especially with the increase in the number of negative credit ‘events’ which means we can increase credit allocations at higher spreads and yields,” says Hayes.
In regards to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy, they believe that “the US economy will continue to prosper, which will periodically get people excited about the potential for a rate hike, but the global economic environment is likely to stay weak. The domestic US labour market is still very tight, but wages are picking up, as they are in the UK. However, higher wages don’t immediately translate into inflation. Core inflation has so far stayed low, removing oil from the calculation. It’s difficult to have a view on 1-2 year inflation figures, but central banks will continue to set rates to reach inflation targets. What I would like to see is the Fed being more decisive – raise the rates and be confident about the state of the US economy.” Considering this, Hayes prefers the Eurozone over US interest rate risk. “Given attractive valuations, we have increased our allocation to investment grade corporate bonds, which has started to offer interesting yield levels for high quality credit, ” he comments.
Schroders was awarded the coveted ‘Best International Fund Group’ award at The Incisive Media International Fund & Product Awards 2015 held in London on October 7th. The award recognises Schroders for the excellence of its digital strategy and strength of its product proposition, as well as outstanding fund performance over three years.
In a highly competitive category, Schroders scooped first place above other well-known players in international asset management, which included the likes of GAM, BlackRock, Fidelity and more.
Additionally, Schroders’ Chief Executive, Michael Dobson, has been awarded the 2015 ‘Financial News Decade of Excellence’award, which recognises his leadership in the strong growth of Schroders’ profits and assets under management since 2001.
Of the award, Carla Bergareche, Head at Schroders Spain and Portugal commented «We have a strong local distribution presence around the globe and in all the major global financial centres, stretching back over 50 years. Through this we have nurtured long-standing relationships with our clients, maintaining an open dialogue based on professionalism and trust.» Adding that «We believe that digital is a key area of development to enhance our approach to servicing, engaging and communicating with our clients. We have put this into effect via the recent launch of the Schroders incomeIQ initiative, a knowledge centre which features investment guides and tools. People can also take the incomeIQ test designed to reveal investors’ behavioural biases and provide useful tips to empower advisers and investors in their decision making. We are pleased to have won the awards in recognition of our drive for excellence in delivering added value to our clients and wider society. We will continue to innovate across all aspects of our business to help meet the needs of our clients.”
You can review the list of winners and Finalist in the following link
