The most recent research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates takes a critical look at the opportunity for managed account providers in the $5.2 trillion private defined contribution (DC) market. As the DC market matures, the asset management industry continues to reassess and measure the efficacy of a target-date product as the primary retirement investment solution for the majority of savers. Likewise, DC plan sponsors are closely scrutinizing the results of their target-date fund selection as it continues to gather a greater percentage of plan contributions.
«Managed account providers may experience greater success in the DC arena if managed accounts are consistently positioned and presented as a service, not just another investment option,» states Jessica Sclafani, associate director at Cerulli. «Importantly, managed accounts should be a complement rather than an adversary to target-date funds.»
«An increase in the availability of managed accounts reflects the DC industry’s growing interest in customization as a route to supporting improved participant outcomes,» Sclafani continues. «As participants’ investable assets increase, they become more interested in financial planning and personalized strategies, which are not addressed by the two most common QDIAs-target-date funds and balanced funds-but are both components of managed account programs.»
Cerulli’s latest report, Retirement Markets 2015: Growth Opportunities in Maturing Markets, focuses on trends in the $21.5 trillion retirement marketplace, including assets and growth projections in the different retirement segments – private/public defined benefit plans, private/public defined contribution plans, and the IRA market.
«Rather than fighting an uphill battle in trying to displace target-date funds, Cerulli recommends managed account providers focus on capturing the segment of participants who are nearing retirement, have amassed outside assets, and are looking for additional services,» Sclafani explains. Cerulli estimates there are approximately 19.5 million households ages 45 to 69 with investable assets ranging from $100,000 to $2 million. Cerulli considers these households, which represent $9.1 trillion in investable assets, as the target market for managed account providers.
Cerulli believes that managed account providers must partner with DC plan sponsors to make sure the differentiated value of a managed account is conveyed to participants (e.g., access to personalized advice or the ability to incorporate assets outside of the DC plan for a more holistic financial planning experience). For participants to opt in to a managed account service, they need to understand what they are paying for. This requires extra work from both the plan sponsor and managed account provider in educating the plan participant base.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is seeking candidates to represent the interests of financial markets stakeholders of all types as members of its Securities Markets Stakeholders Group (SMSG).
The SMSG helps to facilitate consultation between ESMA, its Board of Supervisors and stakeholders on ESMA’s areas of responsibility and provides technical advice on its policy development. This helps to ensure that stakeholders can contribute to the formulation of policy from the beginning of the process.
The successful candidates will take up their roles in July 2016. Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said: “The SMSG plays a key role in providing advice from the perspective of a broad range of financial market stakeholders to ESMA and its Board on its activities, and makes a vital contribution to the development of financial markets policy. We are seeking the broadest possible stakeholder representation, in terms of stakeholder segment, gender, and geography, and encourage all interested parties to put themselves forward for consideration.”
The SMSG was established under Article 37 of the ESMA Regulation and is composed of 30 members, representing consumers, users of financial services, financial market participants, academics, employees in the financial sector and SMEs.
It meets on at least four occasions per year and twice with ESMA’s Board of Supervisors.
Each Member of the SMSG serves for a period of two and a half year and can serve two consecutive terms.
Application process
The call for expression of interest for membership in the SMSG is open to stakeholder representatives from the European Union and the EEA. The deadline for applications is 29 January 2016.
Amherst Capital Management, a real estate credit investment specialist and BNY Mellon Investment Management boutique, announced on Monday the addition of two seasoned real estate finance executives to lead the development of its Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending business. Christopher T. Kelly was appointed Head of Commercial Real Estate Lending, and Abbe Franchot was named Head of Originations.
«We are thrilled to announce the launch of our CRE Lending platform and expanded offerings on the alternative side of our business,» said Sean Dobson, CEO of Amherst Capital. «Chris and Abbe are exceptional real estate finance professionals and terrific additions to the Amherst Capital team.»
As Head of Commercial Real Estate Lending for Amherst Capital, Chris is responsible for leading all facets of the CRE middle-market Lending business, and targeting mortgage investments in all types of commercial and for-rent residential real estate assets. In this role, Chris will oversee the origination and qualification of potential investment opportunities and drive the underwriting process of CRE transactions, including cash flow modeling, asset valuation and debt structuring, additionally, he will provide oversight for Amherst Capital’s overall CRE loan portfolio performance and asset quality.
«The ability to participate in the initial growth and development of a new private debt origination business for Amherst Capital with the support of BNY Mellon and Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company presents a unique and compelling opportunity,» said Chris Kelly, Head of Commercial Real Estate Lending at Amherst Capital. «We believe that the combination of Amherst Holdings’ deep mortgage expertise, proprietary data and analytics with the strength of BNY Mellon’s infrastructure, places Amherst Capital in a sector-leading position out of the gate.»
Chris has 28 years of experience in real estate debt, mezzanine and equity markets. Prior to joining Amherst Capital, he led the national real estate lending business at CapitalSource, a division of Pacific Western Bank, as a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate.
As Head of Originations, Abbe will lead a team of originators that will source investment opportunities. Abbe previously worked alongside Chris at CapitalSource, where she was responsible for providing debt solutions to CRE owners and investors nationwide as a senior member of the originations team.
Amherst Capital’s CRE Lending team will initially focus on strategies providing interim floating rate debt for property acquisitions or recapitalizations with a value-add or opportunistic investment plan.
Pictet Asset Management added a new fund to its offering. With the launch of PTR Phoenix, a market neutral fund, they offer investors access to Asian stock markets.
Led by James Kim, Tai Panich and Jing Wang in Singapore, the sixth total return fund at Pictet follows a top-down investment strategy, combining long and short positions in search of alpha.
The Ucits IV-compliant fund, offers weekly liquidity as well as daily pricing. It is registered for sale in Great Britain, Luxembourg, Singapore, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Germany.
Emerging markets have experienced several years of relative underperformance. In 2016, they will face considerable external headwinds such as China’s slowdown and rebalancing, weak commodity prices, higher short-term US interest rates, and possibly further US dollar appreciation. Countries will react in different ways to these pressures depending on the extent of any imbalances and their own economic and institutional characteristics.
In the latest update of the Standard Life Investments emerging markets heat map, chief Economist Jeremy Lawson and Emerging Market Economist Nicolas Jaquier highlight important differences in their risk ratings of individual countries:
Jeremy Lawson said: “In May our heat map proved to be a useful indicator of subsequent asset price movements. Countries like Hungary, Korea and Russia showed relatively low risk and generally fared better than those at the higher end of the spectrum such as Brazil, Turkey and Peru. Looking forward, widespread currency depreciation has helped to reduce external imbalances in many countries, although domestic imbalances remain widespread and will take much longer to be addressed.
“Venezuela and Egypt, with pegged or inflexible exchange rate regimes, remain the countries where our heat mapshows risks are highest. Brazil and Malaysia have lowered their risk score after seeing their basic balances improve during the year, though risk is still high. Turkey’s external vulnerabilities are unchanged broadly, despite the benefits of the drop in oil prices.
“Whilst Colombia’s external variables improved marginally, this was offset by rising domestic imbalances. The outlook for fiscal balances has deteriorated notably in Latin America and Russia, and a marginal worsening of domestic balances led to a slight increase in risk for India, Indonesia, Mexico and The Philippines.”
As part of the Montréal Carbon Pledge which it signed as first asset management company in Austria in September 2015, Erste Asset Management has for the first time published the cumulative CO2 footprint of its equity funds. At 70.6%, the footprint falls nearly 30% short of the benchmark index, the MSC World (as of 30 October 2015). “Erste Asset Management sees itself as pioneer in sustainable investments”, says Gerold Permoser, CIO of the company in Vienna. “The climate conference in Paris reminds us how important the curtailing of the emission of greenhouse gases and a sustainable economy are in general. By publishing this key figure, we show to what extent our investments contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases.”
As Austrian market leader in the area of sustainability, Erste Asset Management offers three sustainable flagship equity funds, the CO2 footprint of each of which is even lower than that of the overall portfolio, as compared to the MSCI World index: Erste Responsible Stock America (45.4%), Erste Responsible Stock Global (40.7%), and Erste Responsible Stock Europe (39.9%). This way Erste Asset Management clearly demonstrates that a sustainable and ecological investment approach and yield are not mutually exclusive, but instead, complement each other. “We apply stringent criteria in the share selection and orientate ourselves on the basis of the environmental friendliness and sustainability of the respective companies,” as Permoser points out. This is also reflected by the impressive numbers of Erste Asset Management’s CO2 footprint.
After the assessment of the status quo, the next goals are expansion and optimization
By measuring and especially publishing the footprint, Erste Asset Management is taking another step towards strengthening its position as market leader in the field of sustainability. “To us at Erste Asset Management, sustainability also always means transparency. Therefore, there was no long discussion about whether or not to sign the Montréal Carbon Pledge.” At the moment, the company is preparing its next step. In the future, as soon as a sufficient reservoir of reliable data can be guaranteed, additional asset classes may be taken under the umbrella of the Montréal Carbon Pledge, such as corporate bonds or government bonds”.
Establishment of the CO2 footprint
Erste Asset Management establishes the CO2 footprint of its portfolios in a multi-step process: external rating agencies calculate the greenhouse emissions for all securities in the respective fund. Then the weighted average of the emissions of the securities held are calculated for each fund portfolio. The experts establish the total footprint of the measured equities held by Erste Asset Management by assigning weights across all funds, with the weights resulting from the share of the respective fund in terms of total assets under Erste AM’s management. The CO2 footprint accounts for the emission of all six greenhouse gases as defined by the Kyoto Protocol. The emission of the various gases is translated into a carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e: tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) to ensure the different gases are comparable in terms of their harmful effects on the climate at one glance. In order to facilitate comparability between companies of different sizes the emission of the carbon dioxide equivalent is related to sales in millions of USDs. This standardization is defined as CO2 intensity.
Montréal Carbon Pledge
The Montréal Carbon Pledge was launched on 25 September 2014 at the “PRI in Person” meeting in Montréal. This initiative is supported by PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) and UNEP FI (United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative). The goal of the Montréal Pledge is to compile a list of signatories that manage assets worth in excess of USD 3,000 billion by the time of the world climate conference in Paris in December 2015. The Montréal Pledge tries to facilitate a higher degree of transparency in connection with the carbon footprint of equity portfolios and wants to contribute to its reduction in the long run.
The global law firm Dentons announced that it will be establishing its first physical presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the news that it is considering combining with Colombia’sCárdenas & Cárdenas, and Mexico’sLópez Velarde, Heftye y Soria (LVHS). The announcement follows Dentons’ recent high-profile pivot to the Pacific Rim, in which the firm announced a combination with both Australia’s Gadens and Singapore’s Rodyk, and the formalization of its historic combination in China, which made Dentons the largest law firm in the world.
«Comprised of vibrant, opportunity-filled economies, the Latin American and Caribbean region is of significant import to our clients,» said Joe Andrew, global chairman at Dentons. «Entering the region with a presence in two of its top four economies, and with firms that are aligned with the high level of service and quality that our clients expect, is key to delivering on our strategy to have seasoned, local talent, wherever our clients need it.»
«In addition to the leading position that each of these elite firms hold in their respective markets, they add substantial experience across our practices and sectors,» said Elliott Portnoy, global chief executive officer at Dentons. «Many of our clients are already doing business in Mexico, Colombia and throughout the region, and a combination with Cárdenas & Cárdenas and LVHS will bring more than a century of experience in the community along with valuable knowledge in key areas.»
Bernardo Cárdenas, managing partner of Cárdenas & Cárdenas, said, «Having been a leading law firm in Colombia for the past 100 years, and as one of the first firms to work with foreign investors in the country, we are ready to take the next step. We firmly believe that the globalization of legal services is a reality and that joining such a prominent and large firm as Dentons is the right decision. This combination will provide us with a global reach and expertise that will benefit all of our current and future clients, while maintaining our tradition of high quality service.»
Rogelio Lopez-Velarde, chairman and founding partner of LVHS, said, “After almost 20 years of being the leaders in legal services in Mexico in the energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and other industries, we are convinced that joining with the world’s largest law firm, which so quickly has taken such a prominent position in the legal market worldwide, will significantly enhance our capabilities and allow us to continue providing excellent service in Mexico for international clients, and for Mexican companies wherever the Dentons global footprint reaches.»
Dentons first signaled its serious commitment to the region last year, when the firm appointed Jorge Alers as its chief executive officer for Latin America and the Caribbean. Alers, who came to Dentons after serving as the general counsel and general manager of the legal department of the Inter-American Development Bank, has been focused on helping the firm meet its goal for whole firm combinations in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Schroders has launch the UK’s first volatility controlled equity fund with downside protection, designed specifically for UK institutional investors. The Schroder Volatility Controlled Equity Fund has been structured to offer investors equity exposure with downside protection, enabling clients to keep on track with their long-term goals.
The fund aims to give Schroders’ clients and investors exposure to global equities while maintaining a protected approach to volatility. This is achieved through exposure to a volatility targeted global equity index, with downside protection gained through a rolling program of monthly put options.
Initial funding has been received from a UK final salary pension scheme under the advice of their investment consultant Redington. The Schroder Volatility Controlled Equity Fund will be managed by the Multi-asset Investments and Portfolio Solutions (MAPS) team.
Andy Connell, Head of Portfolio Solutions at Schroders, commented: “We have seen a lot of interest from clients wishing to invest in the Schroder Volatility Controlled Equity Fund and we welcome the increasing recognition of the techniques we are using. The recent market volatility further supports the importance of having the control capabilities in the fund to manage the downside risks.”
Dan Mikulskis, Managing Director & Co-head of Asset Liability Modelling (ALM) at Redington commented: “Achieving clients’ investment objectives drives our investment strategy work and recommendations. We believe risk control and downside protection are two powerful tools for keeping clients’ portfolios on track for those long-term goals. We wanted a cost effective equity pooled fund that was easy to access and had these characteristics.”
Oddo & Cie is launching a voluntary and conditional counterbid for BHF Kleinwort Benson Group, a Brussels-listed company, subject to approval from the banking regulatory authorities.
BHF Kleinwort Benson is a European financial Holding, which is primarily active in private banking and asset management, as well as on the financial markets and financing of businesses. The Holding, formerly RHJ International, is listed on the Euronext Brussels regulated market, and is mainly active in Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland, via its three subsidiaries, BHF-Bank AG, the Kleinwort Benson Wealth Management Group and Kleinwort Benson Investors. As at 30 June 2015, the group had 58.5 billion euros in assets under management and its shareholders’ equity amounted to 793 million euros as at 30 September 2015.
Key points of the transaction
Oddo & Cie has filed a draft prospectus with the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) for all the shares of the company, at a price of €5.75 per share, which represents a premium of 15,2% compared to the opening market price on 26 November 2015 and of 40% compared to the average stock price between 24 July 2014 and 24 July 2015, the date on which Fosun Group launched a takeover bid at a price of €5.10 per share.
As a shareholder holding a 21,572% stake, the Oddo Group has signed a firm commitment with respect to the sale or the tender, respectively, with the Franklin Templeton Group, which holds 17.549% of the capital and with the company Aqton, a holding controlled by Stefan Quandt, which holds a 11.283% stake. Oddo & Cie is therefore satisfied that it will be in a position to acquire 50,404% of the capital.
The Oddo Group has reiterated its intention to expand in the eurozone and has thus decided not to maintain the private banking activities in the United Kingdom and in the Channel Islands. To this end and with a view to the transfer of these activities, the Oddo Group has negotiated a firm commitment from Société Générale, the price and main terms of which are fixed, to acquire Kleinwort Benson Bank Limited (United Kingdom) and Kleinwort Benson (Channel Islands) Holdings Limited (Guernsey), subject to a successful public takeover bid and standard conditions precedent, including the negotiation of a sale purchase agreement relating to the shares with BHF Kleinwort Benson.
Photo by GotCredit
. Repensando el riesgo en un mundo más incierto
La política monetaria divergente está creando un conjunto único de desafíos para las aseguradoras mundiales. Mientras que han visto los efectos positivos de la flexibilización cuantitativa (QE) en los precios de los activos y el crecimiento económico en el corto plazo, también temen los desequilibrios del mercado y el entorno de la inversión no sostenible que puede crear. Al combinar esto con las bajas tasas de interés en algunas regiones y las preocupaciones de un alza en las tasas de interés en otras, así como una falta de liquidez en el mercado de renta fija, las aseguradoras se enfrentan a un dilema.
Estas complejas preocupaciones impulsan cambios en las estrategias de inversión del sector asegurador, de acuerdo con la cuarta encuesta anual de BlackRock de las compañías de seguros a nivel mundial, realizado en julio de 2015. El impacto del QE en los precios de los activos llevan a las aseguradoras a buscar más riesgo, aunque los temores de una corrección de los precios de los activos y la falta de oportunidades de calidad en algunas clases de activos sugieren que las aseguradoras están adoptando un enfoque equilibrado para el despliegue efectivo, preparándose para cuando surjan las oportunidades. Al mismo tiempo, más de dos tercios de las aseguradoras están planeando hacer un mayor uso de derivados y los fondos cotizados o ETFs; una de las razones de esto, es la falta de liquidez en renta fija de grado de inversión.
Las principales conclusiones de la investigación sugieren que:
Las aseguradoras ven efectos positivos a corto plazo de QE y la política monetaria más laxa – Casi la mitad de las aseguradoras encuestadas han hecho cambios significativos en la estrategia de inversión a la luz de QE y la política monetaria, y es que se espera un impacto positivo en el corto plazo en el precio de los activos y el crecimiento económico. Un número similar están haciendo o planea hacer cambios en los próximos 12 a 24 meses, una tendencia más pronunciada entre las aseguradoras norteamericanas.
La política monetaria divergente y los posibles efectos negativos a largo plazo del QE preocupan a las aseguradoras– Poco menos de la mitad de las aseguradoras encuestadas citan al entorno de tipos de interés bajos como un riesgo de mercado importante, especialmente en Norteamérica y EMEA, aunque el riesgo de subidas de tipos de agudos también preocupa a muchos, especialmente en Asia y el Pacífico. La mayoría de las aseguradoras se preocupan de que el QE y la política monetaria crean desequilibrios en los mercados que tienen un impacto negativo en la economía, así como un entorno sostenible para la industria de seguros. Mike McGavick, director ejecutivo de XL Group y presidente de la Asociación de Ginebra, habla por muchas compañías de seguros cuando dice que «una distorsión continua del mercado es lo que nos preocupa a largo plazo». En este contexto, no es de extrañar que la encuesta sugiera que la mayoría de las aseguradoras quieren ver el ritmo y tamaño del QE reducido y la política monetaria apretada.
Las aseguradoras tienen previsto aumentar su exposición al riesgo en la búsqueda de un mayor rendimiento – Más de la mitad de las aseguradoras están buscando para aumentar su exposición al riesgo en los próximos 12-24 meses, en comparación con sólo un tercio en la encuesta del año pasado. «Al igual que muchas aseguradoras, nuestro objetivo en el aumento de apetito por el riesgo en el lado de la inversión es para aumentar el rendimiento», explica John Tan, ejecutivo en jefe de la ACR Capital Holdings.
Las aseguradoras están cambiando la composición de sus activos de riesgo– Las acciones recibirán una asignación menor a medida que las aseguradoras reposicionen sus exposiciones al riesgo para generar ingresos. Más de cuatro de cada diez aseguradoras están planeando reducir su exposición a la renta variable, especialmente en América del Norte, donde más de la mitad tienen la intención de hacerlo. Esto puede ser impulsado por preocupaciones en torno a la flexibilización cuantitativa: la posibilidad de correcciones de precios de activos es visto como un riesgo importante por una tercera parte de las aseguradoras. La encuesta sugiere que las aseguradoras están recurriendo a una gama más amplia de activos de riesgo, particularmente inversiones crediticias alternativas generadoras de ingresos; cuatro de cada diez aseguradoras están aumentando sus asignaciones a deuda de bienes raíces y préstamos directos a las PYMEs. Ian Coulman, director de inversiones de Pool Reinsurance, explica que su compañía comenzó a diversificar su exposición al riesgo hace tres años mediante la reducción de la renta variable y la adopción de «una estrategia de crédito multi-activo», centrándose en una «cartera de riesgo bien diversificada».
Las aseguradoras están luchando para encontrar un buen hogar para el aumento de sus tenencias de efectivo –Casi la mitad de los encuestados espera incrementar sus tenencias de efectivo en los próximos 12-24 meses específicamente como consecuencia de QE y la política monetaria, y más de un tercio plaanea aumentar las tenencias de efectivo en general. Es importante destacar que esto incluye casi la mitad de aquellos que buscan aumentar su exposición al riesgo. Shaun Tarbuck, presidente ejecutivo de la Federación International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance dice: «Encontrarles un lugar a los activos que no penalice a las aseguradoras desde un punto de vista normativo, sino les de una cantidad decente de retorno es un problema.» Sr. McGavick coincide: «estamos manteniendo dinero en efectivo para tener la flexibilidad de tomar la oportunidad cuando se presente».
La falta liquidez está haciendo más difícil el acceso a los mercados de renta fija – Aproximadamente la mitad de los encuestados desean aumentar sus tenencias de activos de renta fija de alta calidad, con los bonos corporativos con grado de inversión y los bonos del gobierno como la opción más popular. Sin embargo, ellos están luchando para encontrar lo que necesitan, más de dos tercios de las aseguradoras dicen que la falta de liquidez está haciendo más difícil el acceso a las inversiones de renta fija y aproximadamente tres cuartas partes creen que la liquidez es desafiada si se compara con los niveles antes de la crisis. De acuerdo con una de las compañía de seguros: «Los diferenciales de la deuda de alta calidad, con grado de inversión son ilógicamente apretados, por lo que la oferta es mínima, y lo que está disponible es menos atractivo.» En este contexto, la falta de liquidez está alentando el uso de derivados (siete de cada diez aseguradoras están de acuerdo); cuatro de cada diez aseguradoras tienen previsto aumentar su uso de derivados en los próximos 12-24 meses*.
*Fuente: “Rethinking Risk in a More Uncertain World.” The Economist & BlackRock. October 2015.
Este material es para fines educativos únicamente y no constituye asesoría de inversión, ni oferta ni invitación para comprar o vender valores en jurisdicción alguna (o a persona) donde dicha oferta, invitación, compra o venta sea ilegal conforme a las leyes de valores de dicha jurisdicción. Si algunos valores o fondos están referenciados o inferidos en este material, dichos valores o fondos puede ser no registrados ante los reguladores del mercado de valores de cualquier país en Latinoamérica y Ibérico, y por tanto, dichos valores no puedan ser objeto de oferta pública dentro del territorio de dichos países. La veracidad de la información contenida en este material no ha sido confirmada por el regulador del mercado de valores de ningún país dentro de Latinoamérica y Iberia.
