Joseph Pinco and Philippe Setbon Join Natixis

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Natixia nombramiento
. Natixis IM refuerza su equipo con dos nuevos fichajes

Natixis appoints Joseph Pinto as Chief Operating Officer of Natixis Investment Managers and Philippe Setbon as Chief Executive Officer of Ostrum Asset Management.

Joseph and Philippe will both be members of the Natixis Executive Committee and of the Natixis Investment Managers Management Committee.The creation of the COO role for Natixis Investment Managers and the appointment of Joseph Pinto–who will take up his role in the coming months –reinforce Natixis Investment Managers’management team and enhance its operational efficiency.

Joseph Pinto will report to Jean Raby, CEO of Natixis Investment Managers, member of the Senior Management Committee of Natixis in charge of Asset and Wealth Management.

Philippe will replace Matthieu Duncan who has resigned from his role as Chief Executive Officer of Ostrum Asset Management in order to pursue other interests. Philippe will take up his role at the end of November, until which time Matthieu will remain in his role.

François Riahi, Chief Executive Officer of Natixis said: “With Philippe Setbon and Joseph Pinto, we welcome to the Natixis Executive Committee two leading asset management professionals. Joseph Pinto, whose international background perfectly fits with our setup, will bring significant added–value to our multi–affiliate business model at a truly transformative moment for the industry. Philippe Setbon will lead one of our key strategic initiatives; the creation and development with La Banque Postale Asset Management of a European leader focused on insurance–related euro fixed income.”

Jean Raby said: “Joseph and Philippe’s recognized experience and expertise will bolster Natixis IM and Ostrum AM’s growth and operational efficiency and will contribute to further power the continued developmentof our business. I thank Matthieu Duncan for his contribution to the successful transformation and repositioning of Ostrum AM that he has overseen over the past three years.”

Joseph Pintobegan his career in 1992 with Crédit Lyonnais, working in the securitization business in New York before moving to Lehman Brothers in London in the Corporate Finance division. From 1998 to 2001, Joseph was Project Manager at McKinsey & Cie in Paris. From 2001 to 2006, he was Deputy CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Banque Privée Fideuram Wargny. He joined AXA IM in January 2007 as Head of Business Development for France, South Europe and Middle East. He then took the leadership of the Markets and Investment Strategy Department in 2011 and became Chief Operating Officer in 2014, also serving as a member of AXA IM’s Management Board.

Philippe Setbonbegan his career in 1990 as a financial analyst at Barclays Bank in Paris. Between 1993 and 2003, Philippe was with Groupe AZUR–GMF, first as a portfolio manager for European stocks, then as Head of Asset Management. He then moved to Rothschild & Cie Gestion as Head of Equity portfolio management before joining Generali Group in 2004 where he held a succession of senior roles including CEO of Generali Investments France,CEO of Generali Investments Europe Sgr and CIO of Generali Group. He joined Groupama in 2013 as CEO of Groupama Asset Management.Philippe serves as vice president of the French Asset Management Association (AFG).

Sam Sudame and Matt Farrell Join WE Family Offices

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Captura de Pantalla 2019-10-16 a la(s) 15
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrRockefeller Center in New York, home to one of WE Family Offices' locations. . ,,

WE Family Offices strengthens its investment team with the hiring of Sam Sudame and Matt Farrell. Sudame joins as Senior Investment Associate and will be responsible for Public Markets, Asset Allocation, Portfolio Construction and Risk Management. Farrell joins as Senior Investments Manager and will be responsible for Private Markets.

Joe Gutierrez will continue to be responsible for Macro and Santiago Ulloa remains as the firm’s CIO.

Ferrell has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining WE, Matt worked for nine years at Credit Suisse as an alternative investment specialist, and before that, he worked several years in investment banking where he advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital increases and strategic initiatives.

He received his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) certification and has approved Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

Sam Sudame has more than 25 years of experience in both traditional and alternative assets. He holds the CFA, CAIA and CFP designations, a BA from Oberlin College and an MBA from Thunderbird International Graduate School.

Before joining WE Family Offices, Sam was the Director of Research at Singer Xenos Wealth Management in Coral Gables, FL. Prior to this he lived and worked in Asia for over a decade and held investment banking roles at Bayerische Hypovereins Bank (HVB) and Lehman Brothers.

 

The Chinese Equities Journey of Aberdeen Standard Investments (Part 2)

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El viaje de Aberdeen Standard Investments por la renta variable china (Parte 2)
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. El atractivo de las A-shares chinas

After its first approach to the chinese equities, in this second and last instalment, Aberdeen Standard Investments reflects its growing comfort with A-shares, from the earliest reservations to the expectations for future growth.

In the early 1990s the onshore market was isolated, accessible only to domestic investors. Gradually China has opened its stock exchanges to overseas investors with initiatives like the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme in 2002 or the Stock Connect of 2014 and 2016. Most recently, there has been an inclusion of A-shares in MSCI’s mainstream benchmarks. These “deregulations” have facilitated the journey of the asset manager from observer to investor in China’s A-share market.

Getting comfortable

For years, global investors seeking access to China’s economic growth predominantly invested in stocks listed in Hong Kong. However, the domestic A-share market is far deeper and more liquid and its range of companies and sectors more varied.

“Our challenge was identifying firms that met our strict quality criteria“: a strong balance sheet, sustainable earnings, progressive management and good governance, reveals ASI. “We could see that A-share companies had plenty of work to do on improving their financial transparency and strengthening investor protections” and typically “they had too short an operating history for us to gain comfort in their track record”.

The asset manager especially wary of political interference in commercial decision-making, but, as they familiarised themselves with the inner workings of companies, their views became less rigid. “Some of the biggest state-owned enterprises have sound management teams, operate internationally and enjoy pseudo-monopolies at home” so “we learned to appreciate these strengths”.

ASI researched the A-share universe for more than a decade before their first investment in 2011. In the five years following, they carried out some 500 company meetings, they engaged with management teams and campaigned for better capital management practices.

“We observed incremental improvements, such as enhanced board and management composition; increased dividend pay-outs and share buy-backs; and improved transparency in reporting”, but “it wasn’t always plain sailing”. The asset manager gas had to divest stakes in companies that continued to invest heavily in non-core assets; where infighting among board directors led to dysfunction; and where firms pressed ahead with privatisation plans despite depressed valuations and dissenting voices. 

“As more companies confer rights of ownership on outside shareholders, our comfort with the A-share market will continue to grow”, assures ASI, which, after extensive due diligence and analysis, was able to build up a list of companies with the highest standards in the market. This enabled to launch a dedicated A-share Fund in March 2015. Out of the present universe of about 3,500 A-shares, ASI holds a little over 30. “Generally these are well-run, industry-leading companies which enjoy a sustainable competitive advantage”.

Finantial evolution

The past five years have seen the introduction two Stock Connect schemes, creating a trading loop directly linking the exchanges of Hong Kong with Shanghai and Shenzhen. Broadly this addressed foreign investor concerns about lack of direct market access and was instrumental in global index provider MSCI agreeing to admit A-shares to its mainstream benchmarks incrementally.

For the asset manager, that will accelerate capital flows from foreign institutions tracking these indices passively. “We see this broadening of the shareholder base as a good thing: some A-share companies have told us they want more foreign institutions as shareholders because they invest for the long term. This remains a volatile market driven by retail investor speculation, after all”.

MSCI’s inclusion of A-shares into its indices has no practical application for ASI as a fundamental investor: it doesn’t affect its view of whether a company is good or bad, nor does it feel any need to adjust portfolios. “The real significance is what it says about China’s financial evolution. Over time the A-share market is becoming more institutional, more professional and more international. It’s the beginning of huge financial change”.

But Stock Connect was about more than raising foreign participation. China no longer needs its financial system to finance rapid economic growth; it needs it to provide pension income for a rapidly ageing society. According to ASI, it means the quality of financial assets matter more now than ever and Chinese pension funds need to invest sustainably.

“Over the long term, China’s structural growth will be driven by domestic consumption and a rising middle class. We believe the key to unlocking shareholder value is identifying companies which can tap into these growing disposable incomes”, says the asset manager, who has found companies with good long-term growth prospects in segments such as internet technology, travel and health care”.

Artemio Hernández Joins AIS Financial Group

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artemio
Foto cedida. artemio

AIS Financial Group has hired Artemio Hernández Salort as Head of its Fund Solutions Division. He will report directly to Samir Lakkis, founding partner of the company.

AIS currently distributes over 1billion dollars a year in structured products and is currently looking to expand in order to diversify its business offering. Artemio will focus on third party fund distribution, a new business line which will be offered to clients of AIS and he will be responsible for.

Artemio has a degree in Business Administration from CUNEF and he joins AIS with over 10 years of experience in the sector. He had previously worked in the Private Banking division at Credit Suisse in Madrid, Zurich and Panama where he focused on fund selection for the Iberian and Latinamaerican markets. His most recent position was as a private banker for the Iberian market at UBS, Geneva.

With offices in Madrid, Geneva, Bahamas and currently opening a fourth office in Panama, AIS will look to partner with those managers who want to outsource their sales force and benefit from the knowledge and experience that the company has in the region.

 

 

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Strengthens Latin America Investment Teams with Two Senior Hires

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Deutsche Bank Wealth Management has made two senior hires to its Latin America investment teams, strengthening its offering to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutions in the region. Karim Aryeh joins as Director and Investment Manager based in Miami with a focus on Mexico and the Andean region. Juan Pablo Egui joins as Director in New York in the Institutional Wealth Partners group, a specialized team delivering Deutsche Bank’s corporate and investment bank capabilities to family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals, including idea generation, lending, thematic private market opportunities and corporate finance advisory.

“We are thrilled to welcome Karim and Juan Pablo to help us serve the investment needs of our growing number of Latin America clients,” said George Crosby, Latin America Head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management. “We continue to bring on top talent as we execute on our ambitious growth plans in the region.”

Aryeh joins Deutsche Bank Wealth Management from Lloyd Crescendo Advisors, where he was Chief Investment Officer since 2016. Prior to that, he was Senior Portfolio Advisor and Team Leader at Santander Private Bank International, and Senior Investment Consultant at UBS Wealth Management focusing on private clients in Latin America. He brings a holistic approach to investment solutions as well as a strong background in Alternative Investments including Hedge Funds and Private Debt. Aryeh graduated cum laude from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2007 and has held the CAIA designation since 2006. He also is Co-Founder and Executive Board Member of CAIA Miami (Chartered Alterative Investment Analyst). Aryeh reports to Coley Jellinghaus, Head of Investment Managers at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Americas.

Egui joins from Compass Group LLC where he was Head of Sales Trading for the firm’s brokerage operations specializing in Latin American Capital Markets. The role included oversight of registered representatives both in New York and Santiago, covering regional institutional, family office and ultra-high-net-worth clients’ investing across various asset classes. Prior to heading the division, he was the LatAm Fixed Income Specialist for the desk, trading both corporate and sovereign debt, with an emphasis towards the high yield and distressed segments. His broad experience in emerging markets and its investor base will provide valuable contributions to growing Institutional Wealth Partners’ presence across the Americas. Egui earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an MBA with honors from NYU Stern School of Business. He holds Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses. He will report  to Alan Brody, Head Institutional Wealth Partners’ Global Investments & Trading, and Dan Kaiser, Head of Institutional Wealth Partners for the Americas.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management seeks to deliver a premium wealth management experience while leveraging the vast resources of Deutsche Bank for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net worth individuals, families and select institutions.
 

FIBA Hosts SEC Staff on Regulation Best Interest Program

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Panel RegBI. FIBA y SEC

The Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) hosted two senior Securities and Exchange Commission staff members and three senior industry lawyers to present a first-in-South Florida educational panel discussion on the Commission’s new Regulation Best Interest rules package.

Occurring on Tuesday, September 17 at the offices of Shutts & Bowen, the panel featured Lourdes Gonzalez, Assistant Chief Counsel for Sales Practices in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, and Jennifer Porter, Branch Chief in the Investment Adviser Regulation Office within the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Both played a central role in the design and drafting of the new rules package, which features new rules, a new form, and over 1100 hundred pages of analysis and regulatory guidance. Ms. Gonzalez and Porter were joined by Kim Prior, a partner with Shutts & Bowen’s Financial Institutions practice and FIBA General Counsel; Michael Butowsky with Jones Day’s New York office who focuses on investment adviser matters; and Sergio Alvarez-Mena, a partner in Jones Day’s Miami office and Financial Institutions practice who Chairs  FIBA’s Law and Regulatory Affairs committee.

Regulation Best Interest enhances the standard of conduct for the nation’s broker-dealers and their associated persons when they provide personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers. While stopping short of articulating a fiduciary duty for stockbrokers, the rule package requires extensive conflict assessment and disclosure by broker-dealers to their clients, and in some instances requires either mitigation or elimination if the conflicts are so grave as to require more than full and fair disclosure. Additionally, the new conduct standard requires broker-dealers to act in their customer’s best interest by not placing the brokerage’s interests ahead of those of the customer and prescribes significant new requirements in the care brokers should exercise in making recommendations to their customers, including assessing the costs of investments and the examining of reasonably available alternatives to any recommendation.

In commenting on the panel program, David Schwartz, FIBA’s President and CEO, said, “FIBA is thrilled and thankful to have been able to present this first-in-South Florida panel putting together important authors of the Commission’s rule-making with top industry lawyers in order to address the many questions our members and the local private wealth industry had. FIBA has been at the forefront of thought leadership on Reg BI’s impact on the cross-border private wealth industry and highly involved in the Commission’s rule-making process including authoring a significant comment letter on the Regulation’s unique impact on the cross-border private wealth business. We were grateful to see many of those concerns addressed and reflected in certain provisions of the Final Rule. Nonetheless, many questions remain unanswered and we will continue to engage with the Commission and staff on Reg BI.”

FIBA is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is the nation’s leading advocacy and educational organization for the promoting of international banking in South Florida, our State and nationally. It has over 120 financial industry members and is internationally recognized for its prominence in legal and regulatory affairs concerning the international banking industry.

 

Mora Wealth Management Becomes Boreal Capital Management

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BOREAL-RGB_0
. BCM

Mora Wealth Management announced today that it is changing its corporate name to Boreal Capital Management (BCM).  The name change reflects the company’s broader investment commitment and its global presence in Europe and America. Boreal is an independent multi-disciplinary wealth management services firm. It is a true fiduciary with a clear goal of providing its clients with a full array of financial and wealth planning solutions.

Founded in 2009, Boreal operates as a fully independent unit offering a Multi-Custody, multi-jurisdiction, multi-disciplinary model with independent financial advice as a code of conduct. Boreal Capital Management has a well-established tradition in private banking and Wealth Management.

According to the company, “BCM’s mission is to offer a risk-based investment approach to individuals and families across multiple custodian banks and jurisdictions. BCM strives to offer an independent platform with the only objective to minimize risk, preserving capital to achieve consistency in the rate of wealth appreciation.”

The new name is effective immediately, and will be implemented across the company’s product and services throughout the calendar year 2019.
 

The Future of Sustainable Finance: Catalysing ESG Investing in Asia

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El futuro de las finanzas sostenibles: catalizar la inversión ASG en Asia
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Catalizar la inversión ASG en Asia

In order to meet the demands of urbanisation, population growth and moving to a more sustainable use of scarce natural resources and a lower carbon future, most analysis suggests developing countries in Asia will need between 20 and 30 trillion dollars in infrastructure investment over the next 15 years, says Aberdeen Standard Investments in a recent publication.

To put these numbers in context, between 1960 and 1973, the United States spent some 288 billion dollars (in today’s money) on the space programmes that put men on the moon. The upper end of that range is around the same as the current forecast for all assets under management in Asia-Pacific in 2025.

“These are huge sums of money well beyond the capacity of the public purse on its own. In fact, Asia will have to attract significant amounts of private capital, including from outside the region. What’s more, this investment has to fund growth in a sustainable way or the region risks repeating the mistakes of the past; expensive mistakes to rectify and with global implications”, points out the global asset manager.

In that line, ASI maintains that despite rapid urbanisation and the rise of a middle class, Asia has still to address some of the most serious development issues: a significant number of people still live at a subsistence level; in many countries there is insufficient and inefficient infrastructure; and some 70 of the 100 most polluted cities in the world are in Asia.

The good news is there is increasing momentum towards getting this right. For example, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has a mandate to develop infrastructure as an asset class; develop bond markets for infrastructure investment; and promote the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into fixed income investments in emerging Asia. 

“This should serve as a catalyst for mobilising additional private capital from institutional investors”. he China-led ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative has similar objectives with a broader footprint.

Supporting this, institutional investors around the world have now also adopted ESG analysis as a mandatory, rather than optional, component of their investment process. “Sustainability is now irrefutably recognised as an issue of global importance. Influential asset owners are leading the call for change and allocating capital to fund managers who can demonstrate ESG sensitivity and tangible action”.

Regulatory pressures are also supportive by pushing for greater ESG transparency. ASI emphasizes that there is growing evidence that ESG integration does not imply lower investment performance. What used to be seen as a trade-off – doing the right thing meant lower returns – is no longer the case. The performance of selected sustainability indices has been largely on par with benchmark indices over different investment horizons.

This is why the asset manager thinks that Asian infrastructure investment offers “a real opportunity to embed ESG principles to enhance the long-term social and economic value that such infrastructure investment can deliver to far-sighted Asian countries and communities”. Beyond fund managers incorporating ESG analysis into their investment process, Asian demographics and the growing democratisation of savings will play important roles in driving assets towards these strategies.

“The younger generation is venturing into financial markets with different priorities from its predecessors. These changing preferences, combined with public policy shifts and technology facilitation that place greater control into the hands of underlying beneficiaries, will help propel the shift towards ESG-friendly investments“, says ASI.

In Asian markets, these changes will be felt in three key areas. The first area relates to climate change mitigation: sustainability-linked infrastructure will transform how governments finance and build power infrastructure, energy efficiency, sustainable transport and waste management.

The second relates to air quality improvement: East Asia has the world’s highest mortality rate from air pollution. Industries involved in the development and manufacturing of clean-air related products will have important roles to play.

The last relates to ethical and sustainable palm oil and natural rubber: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is the largest producer of palm oil and natural rubber in the world. However, this industry has been linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, land grabs and forced labour. “Clearly, this has to change and the leading companies are doing so”, asserts ASI.

“By incorporating ESG principles into Asian development finance, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a market ecosystem that will benefit investors, issuers, the people of Asia, and the rest of the world. We must not let this historic opportunity slip away”, assures ASI.

The chinese equities journey of Aberdeen Standard Investments (Part I)

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El viaje de Aberdeen Standard Investments por la renta variable china (Parte I)
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Hong Kong

Aberdeen Standard Investments has been investing in Chinese equities since 1992. It has been a journey punctuated by caution and careful consideration during which the asset manager had to overcome significant reservations along the way, contending with government interference across sectors; the inexperience of Chinese entrepreneurs; a legally ambiguous fund structure; and poor corporate governance. Nonetheless they found, and continue to find, good companies to invest in, points out ASI in the first part of its analysis about this market.

Starting point

For almost two decades ASI preferred to invest in Hong Kong-based companies, mostly privately owned firms whose management teams were subject to strict regulatory oversight and demonstrated high standards of governance. Increasingly this included ‘China plays’: businesses which benefitted directly or indirectly from rising prosperity and strong economic growth in mainland China. “This approach afforded us both comfort as an investor and access to strong potential growth”.

State ownership

Backed by rigorous research, frequent company meetings and engagement with managements, ASI gained sufficient comfort to invest in mainland-headquartered companies listed in Hong Kong known as H-shares and red chips. Initially they favored well-run state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exposed to secular growth trends that we considered less susceptible to government policy and interference.

Hong Kong listing requirements ensured their reporting and disclosure standards aligned with international norms. Intuitively, investors may think to avoid SOEs on the assumption that privately run firms have superior execution capabilities and profitability. “But, in practice, some SOEs have sound management teams and operate in high-growth industries where they enjoy ‘protective moats’ against competition”, says the asset manager.

In China’s property sector, for instance, there are a range of SOEs and private companies. ASI invested in one state-owned developer which focuses primarily on first- and second-tier cities. It was one of the first Chinese developers to diversify into shopping malls, where rental payments offer steady and recurring income streams. As an SOE it enjoys one of the lowest borrowing costs in the sector, helping it to maintain one of the healthiest balance sheets.

As such it is better positioned to weather a downturn or consolidate opportunistically. By contrast, we have steered clear of privately owned developers that have excessive leverage, weak balance sheets and extensive investments in non-core assets.

Structural integrity

Over the past decade there has been an explosive growth of China’s internet sector in segments such as gaming and e-commerce, which presented promising new opportunities to invest in growth stocks listed in Hong Kong and the US. But, assures ASI, it came with a snag: “direct foreign ownership is restricted by law because China treats its internet technology sector as sensitive”.

As a result, many of these companies were structured as Variable Interest Entities (VIEs), which consists in a contractual agreement with the company’s domestic entity designed to circumvent domestic laws on foreign ownership. “We viewed it as a risky legal structure from a shareholder’s point of view. Licences, and in some cases operating assets, are held by a VIE rather than by the listed entity. They also offer weighted voting rights, which we are not in favour of”.

After a huge amount of due diligence on the structure over many years, ASI concluded that the government was unlikely to declare VIE structures illegal or impose disruptive changes that would be negatively perceived by global investors. Already VIEs had become such an integral part of the domestic stock market and economic activity.

“Moreover, we discovered that not all VIEs were the same. Some were friendlier to minority shareholders than others. At the same time, relative comfort with one VIE structure does not equate to comfort with all of them”, notes the asset manager. But by taking account of the ownership structure, country of incorporation and listing, voting structure and person in charge, we felt able to discern quality among VIEs.

In 2017 ASI invested in a Chinese internet technology company that, while it operated as a VIE, it had a one-share, one-vote structure. Over time they grew more comfortable with its management team, plus it was listed in Hong Kong, which historically has provided strong regulatory safeguards for minority shareholders. “In the end we felt confident enough to invest .Of course, we continue to monitor the regulatory environment closely. But our familiarisation with the VIE structure offers a salient example of the need for adaptability in this market”.

In the second and final instalment of this series, ASI will explore the evolution of our investment into Chinese A-shares, from its earliest steps to today, in conjunction with the market’s increasing accessibility and incremental improvements in corporate governance.

Goldman Sachs AM Launches its European ETF Business

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cohete
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. cohete

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has launched its European ETF business on Thursday. Its debut product, is the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity UCITS ETF, a European version of their $6.5 billion flagship U.S. product, the largest milti-factor equity ETF in the world.

To complement the product that launched today on the London Stock Exchange and will be cross listed in various other European  stock exchanges, the company plans to launch a range of ETFs providing access to a number of markets, asset classes and investment styles over the next six months.

The ETFs are designed to be complementary to GSAM’s active fund range and used as part of broader, diversified portfolios.

GSAM started offering ETFs in 2015 in the U.S. and currently has 19 products with $14 billion in assets under management.