From February 2016, Robert Senz will be the new Head of the 20-strong cross-border Fixed Income team of Erste Asset Management. He will report directly to Gerold Permoser, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of EAM. The current Head, Alexander Fleischer, will take an educational leave at his own request.
Robert Senz has more than 25 years of experience in the fixed income area as well as a successful professional track record for example as Chief Investment Officer for bonds with Raiffeisen Capital Management. Gerold Permoser said «with Robert Senz we ensure the continuity of our successful active investment approach. Mr Senz has years of experience, he has received numerous awards, and is highly client-oriented. This will help us strengthen and further expand the already high degree of acceptance displayed by our clients and sales partners.”
“I am very much looking forward to this task, and I am convinced that I will continue the successful path together with the team of Erste Asset Management,” Rober Senz, concluded.
Foto: Giordano Lombardo, CEO and Group CIO of Pioneer Investments. Pioneer Investments alcanza un récord de más de 15.000 millones de euros en ventas netas en 2015
Pioneer Investments alcanzó en 2015 un récord de flujos de entrada de 15.200 millones de euros globalmente. Las ventas netas crecieron un 15% en tasa interanual y los activos bajo gestión se situaron en 224.000 millones de euros a finales de diciembre de 2015, una subida del 11% respecto a diciembre del año anterior, reflejando un impulso positivo a lo largo de todas las unidades de negocio. Pioneer Investments ha visto un crecimiento importante en Italia y Alemania, así como un impulso positivo en Asia y Latinoamérica.
De acuerdo a los datos de los flujos de fondos de Morningstar, la firma ocuparía la cuarta posición con sus estrategias multiactivo y la octava en el segmento de fondos alternativos a nivel global, gracias a las importantes entradas en las estrategias multi-activo e inversiones alternativas líquidas de Pioneer Investments. Estas clases de activo en crecimiento, complementan la gama de producto de renta fija y renta variable de Pioneer Investments, que han seguido contribuyendo a los resultados de la compañía en 2015.
“Es gratificante ver la continua confianza que nuestros clientes han depositado en nosotros. En el actual entorno de mercado caracterizado por la volatilidad, las condiciones de liquidez, las preocupaciones macro, la eficacia de las políticas monetarias, la visión para China y la trayectoria de las economías de los mercados emergentes, nosotros seguimos manteniendo un claro enfoque en la gestión”, afirmó Giordano Lombardo, consejero delegado y director de Inversiones del Grupo de Pioneer Investments.
“Seguimos comprometidos con la preservación del capital de nuestros clientes bajo nuestro enfoque de inversión testado eficazmente, con un exhaustivo sistema de gestión del riesgo que permite identificar oportunidades durante los períodos de debilidad del mercado, invirtiendo con un horizonte de largo plazo para nuestros clientes”, añadió.
A pesar de un escenario de bajos retornos y rentabilidades inferiores de las clases de activo tradicionales, Pioneer Investments ha continuado reforzando su gama de producto, ofreciendo soluciones de inversión innovadoras para sus clientes. Por ejemplo, la gama “Target Income” de Pioneer Investments, ha sido diseñada para facilitar a los inversores una renta, ha logrado atraer más de 10 mil millones de euros en menos de cuatro años desde su lanzamiento. En Renta Variable, las estrategias US Fundamental Growth y European Potenial, han sido también unas de las que más entradas han atraído. Por el lado de la Renta Fija, Pioneer Investments ha lanzado en 2015 una estrategia de bonos globales en función del peso del PIB mundial y una de Renta Fija Emergente a corto plazo.
Foto: B Rosen
. La desaceleración de los EM y los resultados corporativos encabezan la lista de preocupaciones de los advisors
La desaceleración de los mercados emergentes, los beneficios empresariales de las corporaciones estadounidenses y la desaceleración económica del país son las tres mayores preocupaciones de los investment managers, según la encuesta de Northern Trust del cuarto trimestre 2015. Menos managers que en el pasado apuestan por que la actividad económica y los beneficios empresariales se aceleren. Una tendencia que Christopher Vella, CIO, y Mark Meisel, SVP, ambos de Northern Trust Multi-Manager Investments, notaron que aparecía en el trimestre anterior. Un gran porcentaje de ellos espera que la actividad económica de Estados Unidos se mantenga estable, pero un pequeño -aunque creciente- grupo espera un período de desaceleración.
El estudio muestra que sólo el 21% de los managers considera infravaloradas las acciones estadounidenses -cayendo desde el 34% del trimestre anterior y el porcentaje más bajo desde que el estudio arrancara en el 3T de 2008. Los entrevistados consideran más atractiva la renta variable europea, que el 85% considera por debajo de su valoración -o en ella-. Creen que las mayores tendencias al alza las muestran las acciones de mercados desarrollados –ex US- y las de mercados emergentes, en segundo lugar. Por sectores, el de tecnologías de la información y el financiero son los que ocupan la primera y segunda posición en las previsiones alcistas.
Los resultados de la encuesta también muestran que dos tercios de los managers esperan poco o ningún impacto en los mercados mundiales de renta variable a raíz del aumento de tipos de interés por parte de la Fed; Sólo el 25% cree que si el precio del petróleo continua bajo un año tendría efectos negativos para el mercado de renta variable estadounidense; el 84% cree que la probabilidad de una recesión mundial debida a una desaceleración en los mercados emergentes está por debajo del 25%; Sólo el 23% de los encuestados espera un aumento de beneficios corporativos, el porcentaje más bajo desde el 1T 2009; el 64% espera que el crecimiento del PIB estadounidense no varíe, y sólo el 23% -frente al 48% del año pasado- espera que el PIB acelere; el 41% cree que la renta variable estadounidense está sobrevalorada, el mayor porcentaje desde que la encuesta comenzó en el tercer trimestre de 2008.
Foto: aehdeschaine. Legg Mason sigue creciendo: adquiere Clarion Partners, una minoría en Precidian Investments y combinará Permal con EnTrust Capital
Como ya adelantamos este mes, Legg Mason ha anunciado la adquisición de una participación mayoritaria en Clarion Partners, una gestora de inversiones diversificadas en real estate de Nueva York que gestiona aproximadamente 40.000 millones de dólares. Clarion Partners operará como la principal filial independiente de real estate de la marca y Steve Furnay, actual presidente y CEO de la firma, mantendrá su cargo.
Bajo los términos del acuerdo, Legg Mason adquirirá el 83% de las acciones de Clarion Partners por 585 millones. Además, el comprador deberá pagar unos 16 millones adiciones por su participaciones en ciertas co inversiones. El equipo directivo– que ha firmado contratos a largo plazo en la operación- se quedará con el 17% restante. El precio de la adquisición y el porcentaje podrían ser ajustados a la baja si el equipo de dirección decidiese ampliar su participación (nunca excediendo el 20%). El propietario anterior, Lightyear Capital, vende en la operación todas sus acciones. Las partes esperan hacer efectivo el acuerdo en el segundo trimestre de 2016.
La firma de real estate gestiona inversiones en varios segmentos: oficinas, locales comerciales, naves industriales, residencial y hoteles y su adquisición permitirá a Legg Mason ampliar su oferta de gestión de activos alternativos, en core portfolios, core-plus/value-add portfolios y carteras oportunistas.
Por otro lado, la gestora ha entrado con una participación minoritaria en el capital de Precidian Investments, una firma especializada en la creación de soluciones y productos innovadores y en la resolución de problemas en la estructura del mercado, especialmente en los mercados de ETF. En virtud de los términos de la operación, Legg Mason ha adquirido una nueva clase de acciones preferentes, que le confieren los derechos de un titular del 19,9% del capital ordinario, con la opción de adquirir una participación mayoritaria en este último. El resto de términos de la operación no han trascendido.
Por último, la firma formalizó esta semana el acuerdo definitivo para fusionar Permal, la actual plataforma de hedge funds de Legg Mason, con EnTrust Capital, una entidad independiente de hedge funds y gestora de inversiones alternativas con sede en Nueva York. Su patrimonio total ronda los 12.000 millones de dólares y cuenta con estrategias de inversión, una base de clientes y una composición de negocio complementarias al de Permal. De la fusión nacerá una nueva multinacional de inversión alternativa con más de 26.000 millones de dólares en activos gestionados y un patrimonio total de 29.000 millones de dólares.
Barings Investments, a firm specialized in providing financial services for agribusiness, M&A and Wealth Management in Latin America, has just launched its new office in Asuncion, due to the high demand which exists in Paraguay for specialized financial services.
Emerson Pieri, head of Latin America for Barings Investments, hired Carlos Avila, who will be heading the new office and developing the business in Paraguay. Carlos Avila previously worked for Credit Andorra Group’s Valores Casa de Bolsa, as private banking financial advisor dedicated to buying and selling stocks and bonds on Paraguay’s stock exchange.
Barings Investments is diversifying participation in various business areas, looking for new opportunities outside the agribusiness and WM sectors. The company’s first venture is to try to attract a group of financial institutions to Paraguay to invest in the infra-structure sector. The first meetings, which aim to capture about half a billion dollars to build toll roads and airports with public and private funding, took place during the second week of January. For the first time, local companies like BYB Construcciones, Ferrere Abogados and private investors will have the support of an international firm such as Barings Investments to bid for a PPP project.
Paraguay, with a population of 7 million people, is a country with a vast wealth of natural resources. The country is crossed by several rivers which make up the Rio de la Plata Basin, which provides hydroelectric power to the Itaipu and Yacyreta power plants which are shared with Brazil. Other key activities in the country include highly automated agriculture and livestock production.
The latest data published on activity in Paraguay could not be more favorable for promoting investment and business in the country. According to the World Bank, Paraguay rates higher than Brazil on the scale of ease of doing business. According to a study by Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry, labor is 21% cheaper in Paraguay than in Brazil and electricity is 64% cheaper. Foreign direct investment to Paraguay grew by 230% between 2013 and 2014, compared with a 2% drop in Brazil. Indeed, Paraguay stands out in a region where overall FDI fell 16% in 2014 and which is expected to fall by as much as 10% this year. The International Monetary Fund expects Paraguay to expand by 3.8% next year, while a growth of only 0.8% is expected in the rest of the region.
In 1997, Paraguay reviewed their industry views by offering incentives to foreign companies willing to assemble low-end factory goods for the world market. Given the country’s inclination to political turmoil, (the overthrow in 2012 of President Fernando Lugo didn’t help) investors were opposed at first, but the situation has changed with the recent political changes.
Since Horacio Cartes, a tobacco magnate, was elected president in 2013, promising to turn Paraguay into a stable democracy with an improved economy, the government’s fiscal responsibility is improving and the country’s debt remains stable. Prior to his election as president, Horacio Cartes endorsed a bill passing an income tax (until then Paraguay lacked this type of revenue collection) to pay for public services and control the underground economy.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which includes developments in previously disjointed fields such as artificial intelligence and machine-learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3-D printing, and genetics and biotechnology, will cause widespread disruptionnot only to business models but also to labour markets over the next five years, with enormous change predicted in the skill sets needed to thrive in the new landscape. This is the finding of a new report, The Future of Jobs, published last Moday by the World Economic Forum.
The report is based on a survey of chief human resources officers and top strategy executives from companies across nine broad industry categories and covering 15 of the world’s largest economies. These are; Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the ASEAN and GCC groups. Together, these economies account for 65% of the global workforce.
In terms of overall impact, the report indicates that the nature of change over the next five years is such that as many as 7.1 million jobs could be lost through redundancy, automation or disintermediation, with the greatest losses in white-collar office and administrative roles. This loss is predicted to be partially offset by the creation of 2.1 million new jobs, mainly in more specialized “job families”, such as Computer and Mathematical or Architecture and Engineering.
These predictions are likely to be relatively conservative and leave no room for complacency. Yet the impact of disruption will vary considerably across industry and gender as well as job type. For example, Healthcare is expected to experience the greatest negative impact in terms of jobs in the next five years, followed jointly by Energy and Financial Services and Investors. The industry that stands to create the most jobs, perhaps less surprisingly, is Information and Communication Technology, followed by Professional Services and Media, Entertainment and Information professionals.
When it comes to respondents’ outlook on how best to deal with these sweeping changes, the news is more encouraging. The most popular workforce strategy across every industry is investing in reskilling current employees. Other practices, such as supporting mobility and job rotation, attracting female and foreign talent and offering apprenticeships, also scored high.
Drivers of change
Drivers of change will also have a very disparate impact within specific industries. For example, processing power and big data will have an especially strong impact on Information and Communication Technology, Financial Services and Professional Services. The rising middle class in emerging markets will have the largest effect on Consumer, Financial Services and Mobility. Consumer ethics and privacy issues will have a significant impact on the Consumer, Financial Services and Information and Communication Technology sectors.
The business model changes created by these drivers will, in turn, have specific and different consequences for employment and skills needs in each industry. While there is a modestly positive outlook for employment across most sectors over the 2015-2020 period, underneath this aggregate outlook there is significant relative growth in some job families and significant relative decline in others. Skills instability is expected to impact all industries but is particularly pronounced in Financial Services where 43% of the top skills needed in all job families across the industry are expected to change by 2020.
You may find the complete report following this link.
Standard Life Investments, a global investment manager, suggests that structural reforms in China will play an important role in determining the trends of global financial markets in 2016. In the January edition of Global Outlook, the manager also shines a spotlight on emerging markets, examines the global economy into 2016, the outlook for US bond markets and sterling, and drivers of global equities.
Alex Wolf, Emerging Markets Economist, Standard Life Investments said: “In China, we expect policymakers to continue walking a tightrope – balancing enough fiscal and monetary stimulus to prevent a sharper growth collapse, while slowly proceeding with supply side reforms to remove excess capacity. Slowing Chinese demand, which we believe was worse than official data reflected, was one of the largest causes of the emerging market trade and output contraction experienced last year. As such we see some room for cyclical upside, as policy measures take effect.
However, our longer-term outlook on China has become increasingly negative. Our own view is that GDP growth is closer to 5% than the 6.9% reported by the Chinese authorities. Although we believe policy makers will avoid a hard landing, it is becoming more likely that Chinese leaders will not enact necessary reforms quickly, especially of state owned enterprises (SOE). SOEs are at the heart of China’s problems, and reforms here would deliver the biggest dividends from a growth and rebalancing perspective, but Beijing has been dragging its feet.»
According to Standard Life Investment, SOE reform plans delivered over recent months were received with optimism, but they believe they failed to address corporate governance issues or the reduction of excess capacity through corporate restructuring and closures.
“Consolidation has been the preferred path, and the government seemed unwilling to sell or reduce state assets in a meaningful way. The plan will lack effectiveness if the focus on addressing loss-making companies and overcapacity is limited to a small number of centrally-owned SOEs, and not the mass of locally-owned SOEs, where most of the overcapacity and inefficiencies lie.
If China growth does disappoint this could drive continued volatility in global markets. Sluggish growth is priced into markets but a hard landing which impacts on currency, capital flows, commodities and social stability is not. This could result in more aggressive domestic monetary easing, forcing the renminbi lower against the dollar, with adverse implications for global inflation and a blow to emerging markets dependent on robust Chinese demand for manufactured goods and commodities.”
Foto: Dani Vázquez
. Hermes IM nombra presidente a David Stewart
Hermes Investment Management ha anunciado el nombramiento de David Stewart como nuevo presidente, con efecto 1 de abril de 2016, en sustitución de Paul Spencer, CBE, que ha ocupado el cargo desde 2011. En la actualidad y desde que se unió al consejo en abril de 2015, David Stewart es director no ejecutivo de la gestora irlandesa.
Con anterioridad, trabajó nueve años para Odey Asset Management, inicialmente como chief executive y más tarde como director no ejecutivo. Es presidente de IMM Associates, director no ejecutivo de Caledonia Investment Trust, y se sienta en el comité de inversión de MacMillan Cancer Care.
Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive de Hermes Investment Management, declaró: “Cuando Steward se unió al consejo de riesgo y cumplimiento de normativa se ganó rápidamente la confianza de todos. Sus opiniones y consejos serán muy beneficios para llevar a Heres a la siguiente etapa de crecimiento”.
David Stewart, recién elegido presidente, declaró estar deseando asumir su nuevo cargo y trabajar con los directivos de Hermes y sus compañeros del consejo para seguir construyendo sobre el éxito ya alcanzado.
Por su parte Spencer, que fue nombrado presidente en mayo de 2011, mantiene su cargo de presidente en Trustee of BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) y fue nombrado presidente no ejecutivo de Prudential Assurance Company (PAC), la filial en Reino Unido de Prudencial, con efecto 1 de enero de este año.
BBVA Compass and FutureAdvisor are forging an alliance to bring investment management services to a greater slice of the bank’s clients through digital means, making the Sunbelt-based financial institution the first major bank to sign on with FutureAdvisor after the San Francisco firm’s milestone year in which it combined forces with leading asset-management firm BlackRock.
BBVA Compass clients will be able to use the award-winning firm’s automated investment services later in 2016. The bank sees the alliance as a way to make sophisticated tools and guidance available to its digital-savvy clients who aren’t currently taking advantage of its investment services. The alliance demonstrates BBVA Compass’ willingness to align with innovators regarded by some as industry disruptors.
«FutureAdvisor gives us a way to connect more of our clients with convenient, affordable and trusted advice,» said BBVA Compass Chairman and CEO Manolo Sánchez. «The ultimate goal here is to help our clients take greater control of their finances so they can build bright futures.»
The alliance follows a headline-generating year for FutureAdvisor, which was acquired in September by BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager. FutureAdvisor has managed more than US$ 700 million in client investments since it launched its managed service in 2013.
Its innovative, always-on technology is guided by a proprietary algorithm, and its investment decisions are backed by theory developed by Nobel Prize-winning economists and continuously refined by a council of notable scholars and finance experts.
«We are very pleased to be deepening BlackRock’s longstanding relationship with BBVA through FutureAdvisor’s partnership with BBVA Compass,» said Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, whose firm has long helped BBVA serve clients in the U.S., Latin America, Spain and Portugal. «The role of technology in our industry continues to evolve as consumers increasingly look to engage with digital-advice platforms. FutureAdvisor powers an entirely new digital client experience for investors, which includes a diverse set of investment products, proprietary retirement technologies and risk analytics.»
BBVA Compass clients will be able to link external investment accounts with FutureAdvisor and receive a customized plan for their portfolios. FutureAdvisor’s investment management service will also be available for clients who want direct management of a portfolio, with the assets being held through the bank’s broker-dealer affiliate BBVA Compass Investment Solutions, a division of BBVA Securities Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. The service will include auto-rebalancing based on market movement and tax loss harvesting to help improve after-tax, risk-adjusted rates of returns.
FutureAdvisor is the latest innovator to join forces with BBVA Compass in the bank’s pursuit to lead the technology-driven transformation of the financial services industry. In 2014, its parent company, BBVA, acquired Simple, a Portland, Oregon-based company that has created a new standard in digital banking, through BBVA Compass. And through its alliance with the all-digital payments network Dwolla, the bank is helping account holders bypass conventional networks to send and receive funds instantly. It also is the latest in a series of BBVA Compass offerings designed to give clients greater control of their finances. In November, via the second release of BBVA Wallet, BBVA Compass became the first major U.S. bank to offer its credit card clients real-time redemption of rewards earned on qualified purchases made at any retailer. And in September, the bank introduced its ClearSpend prepaid card with a mobile budgeting app, a nod to the increasing use of prepaid debit cards across all ages and income levels.
FutureAdvisor was awarded the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer award in 2015, and American Wealth Management Innovator award in 2014.
According to the latest research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates, the U.S. offshore channel accounts for more than half of the assets raised by cross-border managers in the Latin American region. These findings and more are from Latin American Asset-Gathering Strategies 2016: Cross-Border Distribution to High-Net-Worth and Pension Markets, a newly released report developed in partnership between
Cerulli and Latin Asset Management.
Cerulli and Latin Asset Management consider the wealth management market in Latin America to consist of three channels: The U.S. offshore, Latin American offshore, and Latin American onshore markets. The U.S. offshore market mainly consists of distributors based in financial hubs of South Florida (mostly Miami and Coral Gables), Texas (mostly Houston and San Antonio), New York, and Southern California (mostly San Diego).
«According to our estimates, the overall size of the three asset-gathering segments stands at US$ 105 billion, with the U.S. offshore segment accounting for more than half of the total at US$ 56 billion,» states Thomas V. Ciampi, founder and director of Latin Asset Management.
«A factor that differentiates the market in Latin America is the perceived risk of the home country, in terms of political risk, personal security, and stability of markets and currencies,» explains Ciampi. «For residents of countries who are passing through difficult times, or have volatile leadership unfriendly to foreign companies, such as Argentina or Venezuela, investors are of course eager to shelter their assets from the local banking system. In countries such as Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and (up until recently) Brazil, the wealthy may seek to have some of their savings offshore, but are still comfortable putting their money to work in the local economy or saving in locally domiciled financial instruments.»
Although the U.S. offshore market accounts for half of the assets under management, the Latin American offshore market is growing for a host of reasons. Among them are: sophisticated distribution tactics, enhanced technology offerings of product services, greater client trust in local advisors, and changes in the profile of the typical wealthy investor residing in the region.
Asset gathering from within Latin America has become more critical in recent years and this local growth has come at the expense of U.S. offshore booking centers such as South Florida, Texas, and New York. However, the importance of maintaining a presence in the U.S. offshore market should not be discounted. Asset managers should remain focused on serving clients in key locales such as Miami, which is bustling with activity.
