GVA Management, in partnership with Leste Real Estate, announced the completion of a $380 million portfolio of Class B multifamily residential properties that includes five communities across Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina.
The acquisition, which includes 1,670 individual units in total, is one of the largest single transactions completed by Leste Real Estate to date and its first acquisition completed in 2022.
“Like many of Leste Real Estate’s community-friendly acquisitions, the buy will include significant value-add for the communities, including approximately $17 million allocated for renovations”, the statement said.
GVA, which manages more than 24,000 residential units throughout Texas and the southeastern U.S., will manage the portfolio and oversee value-add improvements.
Alan Stalcup, Chief Executive Officer at GVA, said, “We are thrilled to be adding these communities to our portfolio and look forward to a successful partnership with all our key stakeholders, most of all our new residents. All of these communities are in good markets and high-value neighborhoods. We are confident we can add value to and feel well positioned to execute our value-add plans on behalf of our partners and our residents”.
On the other hand, Josh Patinkin, Managing Director at Leste Real Estate added, “All of us at Leste have developed a view that acquiring strong communities like the ones in this portfolio represents a great way to position capital, especially in an inflationary environment like the one we are in.” Patinkin added, “Our multifamily portfolio is performing well and is now more diversified across a great mix of growing markets. We’re fortunate to have a great operating partner in GVA and truly value the trust and confidence our investors have placed with us as we make this investment together.
Founded in 2014, Leste Group is a global independent alternative investment manager. Through its U.S. offices in Miami and New York, the firm offers investors a diverse range of strategies across real estate, credit, venture, liquid markets and other alternative asset classes.
GVA Real Estate Group is an Austin, Tx.-based vertically integrated real estate company committed to creating value in the multi-family real estate sector. GVA specializes in conventional as well as affordable opportunities, paying particular attention to expanding sub-markets.
Eduardo Pérez Balli, banker associate in JP Morgan
Copyright: LinkedIn. Foto cedida
JP Morgan has recruitedEduardo Perez Balli in New York as banker associate for the Global Families Group.
“We are pleased to welcome Eduardo Perez Balli to the Global Families Group as a banker“, the company posted on LinkedIn.
Perez Balli comes from BlackRock where he was responsible for driving sales of active mutual funds and separate managed accounts with Citibanamex financial advisors in Mexico. In addition, he advised and supported Citi’s investment advisors and private banking bankers on indexed solutions and mutual fund products and supported the sales team leader as an internal contact for existing clients, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“He has vast experience as a wealth relationship manager supporting individuals and families domiciled in Mexico,” the company release adds.
Perez Balli will work with clients domiciled in Spain, according to the firm.
The advisor returns to JP Morgan after working in Mexico City between 2015 and 2019.
“I am very happy to share that I moved to New York City to join JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a banker associate in the Global Families Group,” the banker posted on the social network.
2021’s value rally was spurred by optimism over ‘re-opening’ but came to an abrupt halt with the arrival of the Omicron variant. NN Investment Partners believes that the value rotation in play since the start of 2022 should not only have more longevity, but is likely to be broader in scope. An environment of higher interest rates and inflation should favour new sectors such as financials, energy and materials rather than just the “COVID recovery” names. Dividend strategies should thrive in this climate, but investors should be wary of “bond proxies”.
“Last year’s value rally lifted ‘deep value’ stocks particularly in the more challenged sectors such as travel, airlines and leisure. But many do not pay dividends because of weak cash flows and pressured balance sheets. This year, as markets become more volatile and less directional, the dividend factor could become important once again. Over time in Europe, dividends have provided investors with around 40% of their total returns”, says Robert Davis, Senior Portfolio Manager in the European Equity team of NN IP.
Value versus growth
The asset manager’s latest analysis shows that value investing has been out of favour since the Financial Crisis of 2008 with low interest rates and the effects of quantitative easing driving high valuations for growth companies. However, as inflation and the prospect of higher interest rates weigh on investors’ decision-making, we may be at an inflection point.
After a false-start earlier in 2021, value strategies have now outpaced growth strategies since November last year, with the technology sector – and particularly the more speculative stocks within it – taking a tumble.
Historically, the dominance of one investment style over the other can last for many years before a reversal occurs. The famous value rally that started in the mid-70’s lasted almost two decades before growth took over in a run that ended with the “dotcom” boom and bust. The most recent growth cycle started with the resolution of the Financial Crisis as central banks used unconventional monetary policies to depress interest rates and attempt to kick-start economic recovery.
The result has been extreme dispersion between the valuations of growth and value stocks, surpassing the levels seen at the peak of the late-90’s technology bubble. These valuation extremes have made the style performances susceptible to a reversal, and the change of central bank policy in the face of growing risks from inflation has provided the catalyst for this to take place.
A different flavour
At NN IP they believe this year’s value rotation is likely to have a different flavour. In this sense, they point out that there have been two legs to the value rally. The first occurred after the success of the vaccination programmes as economies started to reopen. That particularly helped companies who had seen demand shut off, or had experienced severe disruption to supply chains. “We think this year’s rotation is different – we’re seeing the consequences of inflation and the winners and losers from this environment are a different set of stocks”, warns Davis.
“Financials, for example, will benefit from higher interest rates. With low, or even negative rates, it places a lower bound on the spread between the interest rates banks can charge and receive for lending and borrowing, and this has seen their profit margins under pressure. As rates rise, so should banks’ profitability. Energy and materials stocks have also been clear beneficiaries of strong demand for their underlying commodities”, he adds.
Together with the better performance from these sectors which traditionally pay higher dividends, NN IP highlights that dividend strategies should have other advantages in the current environment. For income-focused investors, there is a level of inflation protection built-in as dividends should rise with company earnings. And as markets become more volatile and less directional, the one element of total return for equities over which there is good visibility is the dividend payout. In a mature market like Europe, dividends comprise around 40% of total returns over the long run.
Dividend approach
However, the asset manager thinks that it is not enough to target high yielding stocks. “Bond proxies”, defined as companies in sectors characterised by steady but slow earnings growth and therefore stable dividends, may see their yield advantage eroded with inflation and higher interest rates. This may be holding back sectors such as healthcare, where drug pricing is fairly independent of economic trends with the risk that dividend growth lags increases in inflation. In other stocks, the highest dividend yields may be a sign of distress and are best avoided: an indication that the market thinks the company will be unable to sustain current levels of payout.
NN IP’s focus is on quality dividends paid by companies generating growing cash flows and with a track record of returning cash to shareholders, but also reinvesting for growth. Today, this also requires finding companies with strong pricing power that can pass on higher input costs to customers.
Davis reveals that within the consumer space, they’ve been increasing exposure to the luxury sector: “Whereas food producers may be struggling to pass on higher input costs like energy and agricultural commodities, luxury goods companies appear to have few problems increasing the price of a designer handbag or high-end watch by another 10%”.
This focus on quality also allows the fund to integrate environmental, social and governance metrics. ESG can be difficult for Value and Dividend funds which can be skewed towards “old economy” businesses. “We target a lower CO2 intensity than our benchmarks. By owning better ESG-rated and lower polluting companies in our strategies we can even run an overweight in sectors like energy while maintaining a lower CO2 footprint than the broad index”, he concludes.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. ¿Será 2022 un año más “débil” en términos de negocio para las gestoras?
After a positive 2021 for European asset management driven by the recovery and strong risk appetite, the analysts of Bank of America think 2022 will be more challenging given conflicting messages on markets, growth, inflation, rates and COVID. In their last report, they reveal that they are taking a defensive approach at this stage in the cycle.
Sector valuation of 14x 2022 PE is optimistic as it is above the long-term average and implies 2021 trends continuing. The research shows that although a yield of 5% is supportive, there is downside risk to ratings given the long-term correlation between markets, flows and valuation. “We prefer to be defensive at this stage in the cycle and favor stocks benefiting from structural growth (passives, private assets), absolute/total return exposure, stable asset bases (wealth) and proven cost control”, it says.
Structural growth drivers
After rising 45% in 2021, Bank of America expects sector earnings to fall 5% in 2022 as operating margins compress by 1-2pp on cost growth normalization post lockdown, lower performance fees from cyclically high levels, and “slower net new money growth”. In this sense, their strategists forecast 3% net flow growth in 2022from 4-5% in 2021. “Given the pro-cyclicality of the sector and expected market pressure, there is also downside risk to valuation. We expect a wide valuation range between those with inflows and those without”, they add.
As for the key themes of the year, the report highlights four, starting by the continued structural growth for private assets as rates remain near historically low levels and investors seek higher returns through an illiquidity premium. The second one is increasing demand for absolute/total return through hedge funds to preserve capital and diversify in light of market risks.
The last trends into 2022 would be a rotation back to passive funds (including ESG) after a strong year for active; and importance of cost management to maintain operating margins given top-line pressures.
The analysts of Bank of America don’t forecast a negative scenario, but expect structural growth drivers to outweigh cyclical in 2022 as macro uncertainty rises and market beta comes under pressure. In this sense, they favor high quality, defensive stocks; and highlight that their buy ratings have average 27% total return potential.
“Our top picks are alternative & private asset managers, Italian asset gatherers and diversified firms with leading passive exposure. Our underperform ratings are ABDN, JUP and ASHM which face outflow pressure. We think their multiples are capped until flows inflect. We have Neutral ratings on SDR, DWS, N91 and Baer”, they conclude.
Foto cedidaSophie Del Campo, responsable de distribución para el Sur de Europa y Latam de Natixis IM. . Natixis IM nombra a Sophie Del Campo responsable de distribución para el Sur de Europa y Latam
To increase proximity with local clients and partners and meet 2024 development ambitions, Natixis Investment Managers (Natixis IM) continues to execute on its strategy to strengthen key business regions. In this context, the asset manager has announced the appointment of Sophie Del Campo as Head of Distribution for Southern Europe & LATAM.
In her new role, she will be responsible for expanding Natixis IM’s footprint in the Southern Europe & LATAM region andwill oversee Iberia, Italy, LATAM and US Offshore. She is based in Madrid and reports to Joseph Pinto, Head of Distribution for Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Asia Pacific, at Natixis IM.
“Sophie’s appointment contributes to reinforce our regional capabilities and reflects our commitment to keep closer to our clients and better meet their specific needs. Since she joined Natixis IM in 2011, Sophie has achieved significant milestones. She successfully led our development in Spain, she drove our expansion in Andes, Southcone, US Offshore, and more recently in Brazil”, commentedPinto.
He also claimed to be confident that Del Campo’s “strong leadership and experience” in business development across countries and client segments will help her to succeed in her new role and to achieve their ambitions in the Southern Europe & LATAM region.
Meanwhile, Del Campo said she is pleased to take on more responsabilities: “I am looking forward to pursue our goals, together with my team. Our purpose in Southern Europe & LATAM is to deliver high quality services to our clients and offer them the investments that suit their long-term requirements. We’ll accomplish that, by following a selective and diversified development strategy, leveraging on the high-value solutions from our affiliated investment managers. We’re committed to further expand into the Retail & Wholesale market through strategic distribution partnerships, and to increase our portfolio of large accounts”.
Del Campo has 20 year experience in the asset management and financial industry. She started her carreer at Deloitte Consulting Group and then worked at ING Direct to develop a mutual funds broker-on-line in Spain. In 2001 she joined Amundi in Spain where she led the wholesale distribution until 2006, and she became Head of Distribution for the Iberian market. From 2008 to 2011, she was Head of Spain and Portugal at Pioneer Investments. Del Campo was most recently Head of Iberia, US Offshore and LATAM at Natixis Investment Managers. She holds an Master in Finance from IEP Paris, and a Master Degree in Economy from the University of Sorbonne Paris.
As demand increases for ESG investing, several key trends are emerging—from climate change to human rights. The global pandemic, in particular, has turned the spotlight on the interconnectedness of sustainability issues and financial market performance. In this Q&A, we ask Thornburg’s Director of ESG Investing & Global Investment Stewardship, Jake Walko, for his insights on ESG trends that will emerge or continue in 2022.
As sustainable investing has become relatively entrenched in Europe and is becoming more mainstream in the U.S., many asset managers have been actively integrating ESG considerations into their investment processes. There are many ways to do this. What is Thornburg’s approach?
Our philosophy centers first and foremost around appreciating the complexity of the world and the ESG issues that exist. As investors with the goal of supporting the transition to a more sustainable world, the most important thing is the ability to determine the materiality of ESG factors—in other words, teasing out material ESG factors that stand to significantly impact a company’s long-term performance. In contrast to this, there are salient ESG issues that may be anecdotally and morally important, such as human rights issues, but do not currently impact the financial performance of a company in a consistent or well understood way. So, the question then becomes: How does one determine materiality?
At Thornburg, we think the best approach is to first leverage the expertise of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as a starting point to guideustowardthemostmaterial and actionable ESG factors. From there, we overlay our own internal analysis and research to develop a holistic ESG viewpoint on individual companies we’re interested in.Due to our commitment to the ESG space, we have a team of ESG specialists that work collaboratively and organically with our investment team. As partners, our portfolio managers, analysts, and ESG specialists discuss how we can invest in a more responsible manner while simultaneously delivering excess returns for our clients.
How big of a role do you think ESG factors, such as climate risk, generally play in determining a company’s financial performance?
Carbon emissions are likely one of the most universally material current ESG factors that can alter a company’s ESG profile. In an effort to rapidly cut emissions, many countries are turning toward policy tools, such as levying a carbon tax, in order to encourage companies to adapt and make meaningful changes to reduce their carbon footprint. While the U.S. may not be close to imposing a carbon tax, American companies from all sectors are facing pressures to reduce emissions. In this instance, the combination of tighter government regulations and increased penalties has transformed climate risk into a source of business risk for companies, which then translates into a level of investment risk for investors as well.
From a financial-performance perspective, we do not expect ESG factors to have an immediate influence on a company’s stock—any related drag on a company’s earnings or share price will be fairly incremental, occurring over an extended period of time. The exception may be such unpredictable idiosyncratic risks as petrochemical disasters, like a major oil spill, which can result in short-term abnormal losses for a company.
How useful are third-party ESG data and ratings, and do you use them as part of your process?
As interest grows in ESG criteria, investors increasingly need a way to access an objective assessment of a company’s ESG performance. While we believe ESG data can be useful in helping investors identify financially material ESG risks to a business, there’s no single data point that can inform us whether a company is a good or bad ESG citizen. Accordingly, a comprehensive ESG assessment needs to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative information about a company’s current and forward-looking ESG strategy and goals. Managers with strong commitment towards ESG investing excellence, like the one we have at Thornburg, will be better positioned to do this and can provide a richer picture of a company’s current and future ESG impact. While we leverage third-party ESG data as a starting point, we rely on our own internal research to determine our forward-looking ESG viewpoints on companies.
For example, some companies that we see as opportunities may not be obvious “good” ESG companies today, but they have the potential to be tremendously impactful in the future when it comes to moving along such ESG goals as mitigating climate risk. We believe that understanding how a company helps the transition to a more sustainable future is more important than its ESG score or label at a particular point in time.
Do you see any transformative technological innovations on the horizon? What are the key opportunities and risks to keep an eye on?
Financial markets have witnessed a general mindset shift from concern around managing ESG risks to a more opportunistic and return-driven approach: finding companies that will take on the role of creating value in this sustainability era. We think there are many potentially transformative innovations scattered across a variety of industries that have the potential to solve huge sustainability issues.
As an example, there is strong demand for a wide variety of clean-energy technologies, and these will be needed to decarbonize many parts of the economy. The electrification of cars is a popular technology that has gained a lot of traction over the years, although other promising developments include the use of hydrogen as a renewable energy source. Hydrogen, when produced sustainably, can be used as a high-efficiency fuel that has little to no environmental impact. And wind, solar, and even nuclear energy are all opportunities on the table that deserve close attention.
Thornburg is a global investment firm delivering on strategy for institutions, financial professionals and investors worldwide. The privately held firm, founded in 1982, is an active, high-conviction manager of fixed income, equities, multi-asset solutions and sustainable investments. With $49 billion in client assets ($47 billion AUM and $1.9 billion AUA as of December 31, 2021) the firm offers mutual funds, closed-end funds, institutional accounts, separate accounts for high-net-worth investors and UCITS funds for non-U.S. investors. Thornburg’s U.S. headquarters is in Santa Fe, New Mexico with offices in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.thornburg.com.
Xavier Pardo Y Lelo de Larrea, Executive Director de Morgan Stanley
Copyright: LinkedIn. Foto cedida
Xavier Pardo Lelo de Larrea joins Morgan Stanley this Friday as Executive Director, according to BrokerCheck.
Pardo manages more than $300 million in client assets with about 40 high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth relationships, industry sources told to Funds Society.
He has more than 16 years of experience at Citi and was most recently Director of Wealth Management at the firm, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Pardo arrives to Morgan Stanley with a team of five Citi former advisors who work with clients in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Central America.
The new team will review nearly a billion dollars in assets.
In recent weeks, several senior Citi officials have left the company after the firm announced its exit from the offshore Wealth Management business in Uruguay and Asia.
Michael Averett, Fernando Campoo and Alex Lago, also left the firm few days ago.
Foto cedidaPascal Blanqué, presidente de Amundi Institute y miembro del Comité Ejecutivo de Amundi.. Amundi crea la división Amundi Institute y reúne en ella sus actividades de análisis, estrategia de mercado y asesoramiento en asignación de activos
Amundi has announced the creation of the Amundi Institute, a new division to strengthen the advice, training and day-to-day dialogue to help their clients better understand their environment and the evolution of investment practices in order to define their asset allocation and help construct their portfolios. In this sense, the management company is responding to needs that it had been detecting for some time.
The Amundi Institute’s objective is to strengthen the advice, training and day-to-day dialogue on these subjects for all its clients – distributors, institutions and corporates – regardless of the assets that Amundi manages on their behalf, explained the firm in a press release. This new division brings together its research, market strategy and asset allocation advisory activities.
The Amundi Institute will also be responsible for conveying Amundi’s convictions and its investment and portfolio construction recommendations, thereby furthering its leadership in these areas. This new business line will continue to serve Amundi’s investment management teams and will contribute to strengthening their standards of excellence.
With an initial staff of around 60, the Amundi Institute will soon be strengthened to serve these new objectives. Pascal Blanqué has been appointed as Chairman and will supervise this new business line. He will be supported by Monica Defend, who will be Head of Amundi Institute.
“Inflation, environmental issues, geopolitical tensions… there are many structural regime changes underway. Investors across the board expect a deeper dialogue and sophisticated advice to build more robust portfolios”, said Blanqué.
Vincent Mortier will succeed Pascal as Amundi’s Group Chief Investment Officer. Mortier commented that the creation of the Amundi Institute will enhance the contribution of research to all of Amundi’s asset management activities so that they can “continue to create highperforming investment solutions over the long term, adapted to the specific needs of each client and taking into account all the parameters of an increasingly complex environment.”
Lastly, Matteo Germano, Head of Multi-Asset Investment, will be Deputy Chief Investment Officer.
Dynasty Financial Partners has announced in a press release that Sean Lindenbaum joined the firm as Director of Network Development, Southeast Division. He will be based on Florida’s East Coast and will report directly to John Sullivan, Head of Network Development.
“Sean brings a long and successful track record of experience to this newly created position at Dynasty. He has been recognized throughout his career as a skilled communicator, collaborator, and top performer – all qualities that will serve him well as he begins the next chapter of his career at Dynasty,” commented Sullivan.
In his new role, Lindenbaum will be responsible for collaborating with the Dynasty Network Development team, consulting to advisors interested in the independent model, and work alongside Dynasty’s other business segments to service the Dynasty Network as needed.
“We believe the broader southeast market, and Florida in particular, represent a significant opportunity for Dynasty. There are a number of advisors in the southeast market who are at wirehouses and IBDs who want a supported independent model and many RIAs who are looking to outsource technology, investments, and capital needs to gain further scale, efficiencies, and to grow faster both organically and inorganically”, remarked Dynasty’s CEO, Shirl Penney.
Additionally, they find that many of the top independent advisory firms and the advisors who run them “want to be independent but not alone”, so they “are looking forward to the opportunity to continue to grow” their Dynasty Network of RIAs in the southeast.
Lindenbaum was Managing Director of Sales at TD AmeritradeInstitutional from 2005-2021, where he was responsible for leading the Southeast and MidAtlantic sales team and has over 20 years of experience in delivering business solutions designed to accelerate revenue and sales growth. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Strategic Sales Planning based out of New Jersey with TD Ameritrade Institutional. He has his BS in Economics from the State University of New York at Oneonta and earned a professional certificate through Securities Industry Institute at The Wharton School.
Thus far in 2022, Dynasty has hired 9 people in St. Petersburg.
Wellington Management has announced the strategic expansion of its Alternative Investments platform through the hiring of the investment team of Shelter Haven Capital Management.
Founded in 2017 by Jerry Kochanski, an experienced alternatives portfolio manager, Shelter Haven is a market neutral, long/short equity manager that primarily focuses on small and mid-cap companies in the technology, media, telecom and consumer sectors, the asset manager revealed in a press release.
The boutique currently oversees around 350 million dollars in client assets across separate accounts and commingled funds. Its team of five investment professionals includes Hedge Fund Analysts Ross Hammer and Michael Yuan, and Research Associates Julia Karl and Alan Zhang, who will all be joining Kochanski at Wellington on 1 March. They will continue to manage the same market neutral, highly idiosyncratic investment strategy at Wellington.
The strategy focuses on delivering returns that are uncorrelated with market betas, an approach that fits well with Wellington’s plans to expand its long/short platform and build out its suite of multi-strategy investment products and custom alternative solutions to meet increasing client demand for liquid alternatives.
“This exciting development represents a unique opportunity for Wellington to expand our alternatives capabilities with an experienced investment team and an established client base. The market neutral strategy also aligns well with our alternatives priorities and demand from our clients,” said Christopher Kirk, Senior Managing Director at Wellington Alternative Investments.
Meanwhile, Kochanski commented: “I am looking forward to returning to Wellington where I began my investment career in 2003 and served as an equity analyst until 2008. Joining Wellington offers current and future clients the opportunity to access a breadth of capabilities, and benefit from the firm’s substantial global research, operational, risk, legal and compliance infrastructure.”
