Juan Garcia. Juan Garcia se incorpora a Eaton Vance como especialista Offshore
Eaton Vance ha anunciado el fichaje de Juan Garcia como especialista Offshore para América del Norte y del Sur, trabajando junto a Vince Leon, director de ventas Offshore, para ofrecer soluciones adaptadas a entornos de mercado cambiantes.
A Eaton Vance, Juan llega con más de 10 años de experiencia en la industria. Su puesto más reciente ha sido en el equipo Offshore de MFS. Anteriormente ha trabajado para Fidelity Investments y Suntrust Bank, como Financial Representative, y para Easthampton Savings Bank, como Customer Service Representative.
Juan Garcia tiene un MBA con honores por el Jack Welch Management Institute de la Universidad de Strayer, un Certificado en Planificación Financiera por la Universidad de Boston y un BBA en Management por la Universidad de Massachusetts, Amherst. Originario de México, Juan reside ahora junto a su mujer en Boston.
Willis Group Holdings and Towers Watson today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals transaction. Based on the closing prices of Willis and Towers Watson common stock on June 29, 2015, the implied equity value of the transaction is approximately $18 billion. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company. The combined company will be named Willis Towers Watson.
Upon completion of the merger, terms of which are detailed below, Willis shareholders will own approximately 50.1% and Towers Watson shareholders will own approximately 49.9% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.
The combination of Willis and Towers Watson brings together two highly complementary businesses to create an integrated global advisory, broking, and solutions provider to serve a broad range of clients in existing and new business lines. The combined company will have approximately 39,000 employees in over 120 countries, and pro forma revenue of approximately $8.2 billion and adjusted /underlying EBITDA of over $1.7 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014.
John Haley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Towers Watson, said, “This is a tremendous combination of two highly compatible companies with complementary strategic priorities, product and service offerings, and geographies that we expect to deliver significant value for both sets of shareholders. We see numerous opportunities to enhance our growth profile by offering integrated solutions that leverage Willis’ global distribution network and superb risk advisory and re/insurance broking capabilities to deliver a more robust set of analytics and product solutions across a broader client base, including accelerating penetration of our Exchange Solutions platform into the fast growing middle-market. We also expect to realize substantial efficiencies by bringing our two organizations together, and have a well-defined integration roadmap to capitalize on identified savings, ensure the strongest combination of talent and practices, and realize the full benefits of the merger for all of our stakeholders.”
Dominic Casserley, Willis CEO, said, “These are two companies with world-class brands and shared values. The rationale for the merger is powerful – at one stroke, the combination fast-tracks each company’s growth strategy and offers a truly compelling value proposition to our clients. Together we will help our clients achieve superior performance through effective risk, people and financial management. We will advise over 80% of the world’s top-1000 companies, as well as having a significant presence with mid-market and smaller employers around the world.”
Transaction delivers key strategic and financial benefits such as powerful global platform for profitable growth; Accelerates growth in exchange market; Expands international profile; Strong financial profile; and highly achievable cost synergies.
Upon closing of the transaction, James McCann will become Chairman, John Haley will be Chief Executive Officer and Dominic Casserley will be President and Deputy CEO. The new company’s board will consist of 12 directors total – six nominated by Willis and six by Towers Watson, including Towers Watson’s and Willis’ current CEOs. Additionally, Roger Millay will be CFO.
Dominic Casserley and Gene Wickes from Towers Watson have been chosen to oversee the Integration
The transaction is expected to close by December 31, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and approval by both Willis and Towers Watson shareholders.
Cerulli Associates’report entitled European Fund Selector 2015: Securing a Place on the Buy List has found that buyers value transparency of process above all else-including performance.
Fund selectors told Cerulli that since the financial crisis good communication has become even more important, not just for continuous updates, but also to provide granular information. New research showed that fund buyers ranked investment process as the top factor in selection, followed by access to a portfolio manager. And they ranked performance third on the list.
«A well-run investment house should be transparent and accountable, therefore it should have no qualms about giving access to fund managers, to allow selectors to question their decisions or to clarify market events,» said Barbara Wall, Europe research director at Cerulli and one of the report authors.
But fund managers seem not to have grasped this concern yet and, as they did last year, rated performance as the top prerequisite to win business. They also rated poor fund performance as the primary sacking offence.
And despite access to portfolio managers having gained so much importance for selectors in the past year, this criterion ranks only eighth out of the 11 selection-winning factors that fund managers were asked to rate.
The dissonance between what selectors want and what fund managers think selectors want raises questions: Are fund managers not listening to their clients? Or are selectors not clear enough? Whatever the reason for this divergence in outlook, fund managers must find the best way to bridge the difference.
«Investment management is changing from a box-ticking exercise into a service, making fund managers partners, not just executors of a strategy,» said Angelos Gousios, an associate director at Cerulli and one of the report’s authors. «This change implies more work and the allocation of more resources to client meetings, but it is also a positive development that will lead to higher standards in the market,» he added.
Photo: Hernán Piñera. Itaú Unibanco To Approve the Merger With Corpbanca in Extraordinary General Meeting
Los accionistas de Corpbanca, reunidos en Junta Extraordinaria el viernes pasado, aprobaron su fusión con Itaú Chile, según comunicó Fernando Massú Taré, gerente general de la entidad, al superintendente de Valores y Seguros chileno, mientras Itaú –por su parte- también anunciaba la buena nueva al mercado.
La operación quedó sujeta a la aprobación por parte de la Junta Extraordinaria de Accionistas de Banco Itaú Chile –programada para mañana martes 30 de junio-, a que Banco Itaú Chile realice una ampliación de capital por valor de 652 millones de dólares –en una o varias emisiones- y a que la Superintendencia de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras de Chile dé la aprobación correspondiente. La operación ya cuenta con la aparobación del regulador colombiano y del Banco Central de Brasil.
El acuerdo aprobado contempla la incorporación de Corpbanca en Itaú Chile, pasando la entidad resultante a denominarse Itaú-Corpbanca, aunque el banco fusionado operará con el nombre de Itaú tras la integración, prevista entre el 1 de enero y el 2 de mayo de 2016. Esta aprobación supone un paso más en el largo proceso de autoriaciones requeridos para el cierre de esta operación, que ha ido alargando sus plazos.
La nueva entidad estaría controlada por Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A., quien tendría el 33,58% de su capital, mientras que el restante 66,42% seguiría en manos de los actuales accionistas de Corpbanca, manteniendo Corpgroup un 33,13%.
Para llevar a cabo la fusión, la Junta de Corpbanca también aprobó la emisión de 172.048.565.857 acciones, que serían entregadas a los accionistas de Banco Itaú Chile en canje con motivo de la fusión.
Asimismo, quedó aprobado el incremento en el número de directores, que pasarían de 9 a 11 y la distribución de los beneficios de 2015 al 50% entre los accionistas de cada banco. Además de dicho 50%, los accionistas de Corpbanca tendrían derecho a percibir el equivalente en pesos de 124.105 Unidades de Fomento con cargo a los mismos beneficios. También quedó aprobada la distribución de un dividendo extraordinario de 0,70 pesos por acción que percibirían el primer día del mes de julio de 2015 cada una de las 340.358.194.234 acciones existentes antes de la emisión–siempre que previamente la Junta de Itaú Chile hubiera aprobado la operación-.
Foto: Christian Pérez
. El FMI lanza concurso de ensayo para estudiantes de universidades peruanas
El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI),en coordinación con el gobierno de Perú, convocó a estudiantes de pre y postgrado de universidades peruanas a participar en un concurso de ensayo bajo el título “Perú: agenda nacional pendiente, una visión de los jóvenes”. El concurso, en el que pueden participar estudiantes universitarios de todas las disciplinas, se centra en la visión que tienen los jóvenes sobre los temas nacionales pendientes, los retos a superar para materializar dicha visión y los instrumentos necesarios para lograrlo. Los concursantes deberán enmarcar sus ensayos en al menos uno de los siguientes seis sectores prioritarios para el país: estabilidad y sostenibilidad macroeconómica, productividad e innovación, educación, género, medio ambiente e infraestructura.
“Nos alegra lanzar este concurso de ensayos en Perú porque es una gran oportunidad para fomentar la participación de los jóvenes peruanos en temas de interés nacional. Perú ha tenido un desarrollo económico y social importante en las últimas décadas. Sin embargo, todavía hay mucho por hacer y por ello es importante conocer el punto de vista de los jóvenes sobre los retos de política económica y social”, declaró el director del departamento del Hemisferio Occidental del FMI, Alejandro Werner.
Este concurso forma parte de las actividades de la campaña Road to Lima que el FMI y el gobierno peruano han adelantado con motivo de las reuniones anuales que el Grupo del Banco Mundial (GBM) y el FMI celebrarán en Lima entre el 9 y 11 de octubre próximos.
La participación es gratuita y el plazo de envío de ensayos (de 1.500 palabras como máximo) vence el domingo 2 de agosto de 2015. Los finalistas serán invitados a participar en el Youth Dialogue un seminario que se realizará durante las Reuniones Anuales en Lima en octubre de 2015, y el ganador y primer finalista serán además invitados a participar en las Reuniones de Primavera del FMI y GBM en Washington en abril de 2016.
Información adicional sobre el concurso en este link
KKR Credit recently announced the launch of a pan-European platform that aims to support banks in managing their exposures to non-core and under-performing assets by improving the performance and value of the businesses which underpin the exposure.
The platform is intended to provide long-term capital and operational expertise to businesses to help them stabilize and grow, creating value for all stakeholders. The platform will be structured so that the participating banks share in the upside of the recovery in performance of the businesses and the value of the related assets on the banks’ balance sheet.
There are €1.9 trillion of non-performing and non-core assets, including €1.2 trillion of non-performing loans, sitting on the balance sheets of European banks. These assets are capital intensive and are ultimately restraining the growth of the banks, companies and economies in which they both operate. KKR Credit’s solution is directed toward helping to unlock bank lending and rebuild companies, supporting local and national economies in turn.
The launch of this platform is a continuation of KKR’s commitment to investing in industry across Europe and will be funded by commitments from certain funds managed or advised by KKR or its affiliates. Since 1996, KKR has invested in more than 100 major companies across industrial sectors in Europe, representing approximately $25 billion in invested long-term capital.
Johannes P. Huth, Head of KKR Europe, Africa and Middle East, said: “This is about supporting banks in managing specific exposures, including non-core and underperforming corporate loans, real estate and shipping. It will allow banks to share in the upside of the recovery in performance and value of those assets over time. It is the combination of our operational expertise and our ability to provide fresh long-term capital to the underlying businesses that allows us to offer this innovative solution to banks. The evolution of bank strategies in response to changing regulation has created a real opportunity for such an approach.”
Mubashir Mukadam, KKR’s European Head of Special Situations, said: “In our Special Situations business, we have substantial experience investing in debt and equity positions and working with companies in need of financial and operational restructuring. With this platform, we plan to continue that successful line of investment. The platform has already commenced work in Italy, working with UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo. The banks’ exposures to a selected portfolio of assets selected by the banks and KKR Credit – initially worth up to 1 billion Euros – will be transferred to a vehicle managed by the platform. The Italian platform is built in open architecture allowing other banks to join and include their own exposures. Besides Italy, we are evaluating opportunities in a number of other selected European countries in the near-term.”
OppenheimerFunds recently announced it has fully staffed its team covering Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), as the firm focuses on further deepening and strengthening its relationships in this critical market.
«RIAs represent a growing and extremely important client segment for OppenheimerFunds,» said Matt Straut, the firm’s Head of the RIA Channel. «We’ve assembled a talented team that has the deep industry experience and client-centric approach to provide RIAs with investment and thought leadership content. This allows OppenheimerFunds to assist RIAs in growing or running a more efficient practice.»
Kyle Najarian and Keith Watts have joined OppenheimerFunds as Senior Advisor Consultants for the West and Southeast regions, respectively. Most recently, Kyle was at Wells Fargo Asset Management, where he was responsible for working with RIAs in their West territory. Keith was at Hatteras Funds, where he worked with advisors across the Southern United States.
Dan Jarema has been promoted to Senior Advisor Consultant from Regional Advisor Consultant, and will be responsible for working with RIAs in the Midwest territory. In addition, Rico Castelda has moved from the firm’s National Division to become a Regional Advisor Consultant on the RIA team, supporting coverage in the Midwest and Southeast regions.
«Matt and his team have the extensive knowledge of the business that enables them to deliver the full range of our resources and capabilities to the RIA community,» said John McDonough, Head of Distribution at OppenheimerFunds.
With the new additions and changes, the RIA team is as follows:
Director of Custodial Platforms Mike Sussman
Senior Advisor Consultants: James Concepcion, Mid-Atlantic; Mike Dennehy, Northeast; Dan Jarema, Midwest; Brian McGinty, Mountain West; Kyle Najerian, West; and Keith Watts, Southeast
Regional Advisor Consultants: Rico Castelda, Southeast and Midwest; Seth Guenther, West and Mountain West; and Matt Trimble, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
Client Service Manager Izaak Mendelson
OppenheimerFunds, a leader in global asset management, is dedicated to providing solutions for its partners and end investors. OppenheimerFunds, including its subsidiaries, manages more than $240 billion in assets for over 13 million shareholder accounts, including sub-accounts, as of May 31, 2015.
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has this week published its latest quarterly statistical release which describes the trends in the European investment fund industry during the first quarter of 2015.
The finding include that UCITS net sales surged in the first quarter of 2015 to EUR 285 billion, up from EUR 49 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Long-term UCITS, i.e. UCITS excluding money market funds, also posted a steep increase in net sales during the quarter to EUR 240 billion, up from EUR 53 billion.Demand for bond funds jumped to EUR 77 billion, up from EUR 20 billion in the previous quarter. Net sales of multi-asset funds also posted a strong rise in net inflows during the quarter to EUR 101 billion, up from EUR 19 billion in the fourth quarter. Equity funds registered a turnaround in net sales to post net inflows of EUR 39 billion, against net outflows of EUR 5 billion registered in the previous quarter.
Money market funds posted net inflows of EUR 45 billion in the first quarter, against net outflows of EUR 5 billion recorded in the previous quarter.
AIF net sales amounted to EUR 17 billion in the first quarter, down from EUR 62 billion in the fourth quarter.This reduction in net sales was due to reduced net sales of multi-asset funds (EUR 21 billion compared to EUR 39 billion in the fourth quarter) and net outflows from equity funds during the quarter EUR 14 billion, compared to net inflows of EUR 2 billion in the fourth quarter. Institutional net sales increased to EUR 54 billion, up from EUR 44 billion in the previous quarter.
European investment fund assets posted growth of 12.6 percent during the first quarter of 2015 to stand at EUR 12,663 billion at end March 2015. Net assets of UCITS increased by 15.4 percent to stand at EUR 8,277 billion at end March 2015, whilst total net assets of AIFs increased by 7.8 percent in the first quarter to stand at EUR 4,387 billion at quarter end.
If we look at Net Sales by Country of Domiciliation, twenty-two countries registered net inflows in the first quarter of 2015, with six countries recording net inflows greater than EUR 10 billion.Luxembourg attracted net sales of EUR 117 billion during the quarter, registering large net inflows across fund categories. France followed with net sales of EUR 66 billion and Ireland posted net inflows of EUR 49 billion. Elsewhere, large inflows were posted during the quarter in Spain (EUR 16 billion), Switzerland (EUR 12 billion) and Italy (EUR 11 billion). Of the other large domiciles, the United Kingdom registered net outflows of EUR 9 billion during the quarter, primarily on account of large net outflows from equity funds (EUR 8 billion). Germany registered net inflows of EUR 8 billion during the quarter.
And regarding Net Assets by Country of Domiciliation, Twenty-five countries recorded growth during the quarter as net assets of UCITS reached EUR 8,277 billion at end March 2015. Of the largest domiciles, both Luxembourg and Ireland posted net asset growth of 14.6 percent during the quarter. The United Kingdom posted growth of 22.4% during the quarter. The appreciation of the pound sterling during the quarter vis-à-vis the euro of 6.6 percent played a role in the large growth of assets in the United Kingdom. France registered net asset growth of 16.8%, followed by Germany (12.3%). Elsewhere, large net asset growth of 17.7 percent was recorded in Switzerland and Spain during the quarter. Belgium also registered strong net asset growth of 17.5 percent. In Southern Europe, Italy posted net asset growth of 10.5 percent, followed by Portugal (9.3%). Greece registered a decrease in net assets of 4.9 percent during the quarter. Net assets of UCITS in Malta posted a decrease of 8.2 percent due to large net outflows from a fund during the quarter. In the Nordic region, net assets in Norway rose 13.4 percent, followed by Finland (12.6%) and Denmark (9.0%).
This report introduces a distinction between UCITS and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) which is based on the specific regulatory requirements of the UCITS and AIMF Directives. The new classification of EFAMA took effect from and including Q4 2014.
Photo:Tax Credits
. The Biggest Pension Policy Challenge Faced by Latin America and the Caribbean Is Low Coverage of Formal Pension Systems
El mayor desafío de la política de pensiones al que se enfrentan en la actualidad la mayoría de los países de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) es la baja cobertura de los sistemas de pensiones, tanto en términos de proporción de trabajadores que participan en los sistemas de pensiones como la proporción de personas mayores que reciben algún tipo de pensión. Por lo tanto, los esfuerzos por cerrar la brecha en términos de cobertura, por ejemplo, a través de las pensiones no contributivas, están en el centro del debate sobre la política de pensiones en la región. Sin embargo, estas políticas podrían plantear desafíos fiscales significativos en las próximas décadas debido a que la población envejece.
LA OCDE, El Banco Mundial y el BID han publicado el documento «Un panorama de las Pensiones en América Latina y el Caribe». La publicación destaca la baja participación de los trabajadores que realiza aportaciones, la repercusión del tipo de empleo, el hecho de que una gran parte de las personas mayores en ALC tendrá que recurrir a otras fuentes de ingresos diferentes a las pensiones contributivas y que el papel de las pensiones sociales se está expandiendo.
La cobertura activa, es decir, la proporción de trabajadores aportando a sistemas de pensiones obligatorios,es baja en los países de la zona. En promedio, en la región sólo el 45% de los trabajadores está contribuyendo o está afiliado a un plan de pensiones, un porcentaje que no ha cambiado mucho en la última década, a pesar de las reformas estructurales de los sistemas de pensiones. Sin embargo, algunos países sí han logrado ampliar la proporción de personas de 65 años o más que reciben una pensión para la vejez, en su mayoría pensiones no contributivas y regímenes especiales de cuentas propias. El bajo nivel de aportes a los sistemas de pensiones está relacionado con una serie de características socio-económicas, en particular con la educación, el género y el nivel de ingresos. El nivel de educación tiene un impacto significativo puesto que los trabajadores más educados tienen más probabilidades de contribuir a los sistemas de pensiones que los trabajadores con un nivel educativo menor.
La dimensión de género también es importante dado que la tasa media de participación de las mujeres en la fuerza laboral en ALC es del 56% en comparación con el 83% para los hombres. La brecha de género varía desde el 20% en Bolivia, Chile, Jamaica y Uruguay hasta el 40% en Guatemala, Honduras y México. Por último, las diferencias de ingresos entre los hogares tienen asimismo un importante impacto. Los trabajadores en el quintil más alto de la distribución de los ingresos tienen porcentajes relativamente altos de contribución, mientras que los trabajadores de bajos ingresos escasamente contribuyen a los sistemas previsionales. Sólo del 20 al 40% de los trabajadores de ingresos medios contribuyen a una pensión, lo cual les hace particularmente vulnerables a los riesgos de pobreza en la vejez.
Un factor determinante de la cobertura de pensiones en América Latina y Caribe es el tipo de empleo. En promedio, el 64% de los trabajadores asalariados contribuye a un plan de pensiones, mientras que sólo lo hacen 17 de cada 100 trabajadores por cuenta propia. El tamaño de la empresa también es importante. En las grandes empresas con más de 50 trabajadores, el 71% de los trabajadores contribuyen, en comparación con el 51% en las empresas medianas (de 6 a 50 empleados) y el 24% en las pequeñas (menos de seis).
Las transiciones frecuentes entre formalidad, informalidad e inactividad generan brechas de contribución significativas en las carreras de los trabajadores en la zona, lo que puede poner en riesgo la adecuación de los futuros ingresos de jubilación. En casi todos los sistemas, los historiales incompletos de cotización dan lugar a derechos de pensión más bajos, o incluso a la inelegibilidad, lo que significa que tanto el tamaño de estas brechas de cotización como su distribución en el tiempo deben ser analizados.
Una gran parte de las personas mayores en América Latina y Caribe tendrá que recurrir a otras fuentes de ingresos diferentes a las pensiones contributivas, como los ingresos provenientes del trabajo, activos inmobiliarios, las transferencias, las pensiones sociales y el apoyo familiar. La estructura de los hogares, un factor importante para el bienestar de las personas mayores, muestra que las personas más pobres de mayor edad tienen más probabilidades de estar viviendo con un miembro de su familia. La mayoría de los ancianos en situación de pobreza de la región viven en hogares multi-generacionales, lo que indica que su bienestar está estrechamente relacionado con el de su familia. Las tendencias a largo plazo de una urbanización creciente y la disminución de la fecundidad probablemente debilitarán estos lazos en el futuro y facilitarán el acceso al sistema formal de pensiones.
El papel de las pensiones sociales se está expandiendo y, en algunos países estas ya constituyen un elemento importante del sistema de pensiones. Estos programas han tomado varias formas con diferentes resultados entre los países. En términos de cobertura y generosidad relativa, las pensiones sociales son más importantes en Guyana y Bolivia, seguidas por Venezuela y Brasil.
En resumen, es necesario adoptar un enfoque de dos vías con el fin de afrontar la brecha de cobertura. Por un lado, es importante aumentar la participación formal del mercado de trabajo, especialmente para las mujeres, para que la gente pueda construir sus propios derechos a una pensión. En la medida de lo posible, los trabajadores deben afiliarse en los sistemas contributivos para impulsar el ahorro en pensiones y garantizar la adecuación de las pensiones. Al mismo tiempo, el papel de las pensiones no contributivas (o sociales) está aumentando en toda la región y puede representar una herramienta fundamental para mejorar la situación económica y el bienestar de las personas mayores. Estos programas deben ser evaluados tanto desde la perspectiva de la adecuación y la sostenibilidad financiera, como desde la forma en que interactuarán con los otros elementos del sistema de protección social, incluyendo la asistencia social y las pensiones contributivas.
OECD (2014), «Executive summary», in OECD/IDB/The World Bank, Pensions at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean, OECD Publishing, Paris. Link al resumen.
Para acceder al documento completo puede usar este link
Laurent Auchlin, head of open architecture and executive vice president at Geneva-headquartered private bank Lombard Odier has announced his resignation.
Auchlin lead a 15 person strong team in managing a long-only fund and a fund of hedge funds, managing assets in excess of €7bn for private and institutional clients as well as family offices. His key responsibilities included manager selection, portfolio construction and asset management.
He has been with Lombard Odier for 15 years, starting off in 2000 as deputy head of fund research and multi-management before being appointed to head of open architecture in 2008. Prior to that, he worked as portfolio manager for Credit Suisse.
Philippe Baumann, deputy-head of open architecture has taken over his responsibilities on an ad-interim basis.
