Photo: Raul Garcia Piñero. Nomura Launches Two JPX-Nikkei 400 ETFs
Nomura today announces the launch of the “Nomura JPX-Nikkei 400 Daily EUR-Hedged UCITS Exchange Traded Fund” and the “Nomura JPX-Nikkei 400 Daily USD-Hedged UCITS Exchange Traded Fund”. The ETFs are listed on the London Stock Exchange and are available to investors in key European markets.
The investment objective of the funds is to track the performance of the recently launched JPX-Nikkei 400 Total Return US dollar and Euro-hedged indices. Offered in EUR–hedged and USD-hedged formats, the ETFs will allow investors to gain exposure to Japanese equities, while reducing the impact on their portfolios of potential JPY depreciation against those currencies.
The JPX-Nikkei 400 Total Return Index spearheads a new generation of benchmarks, with the objective of increasing the appeal of Japanese equities by including companies with high and sustainable dividend yields; encouraging better corporate governance and capital efficiency. The selection criteria are based on return on equity, governance, size and liquidity. The index is calculated on a free-float adjusted market capitalisation weighted basis.
The ETFs are part of Nomura’s US$52.7 billion NEXT FUNDS range, which offer physical replication of benchmark indices in various asset classes.
These additions represent a further step in the international expansion of NEXT FUNDS into the UCITS ETF market, following the launch in January of the “Nomura Nikkei 225 Euro- Hedged UCITS ETF” and the “Nomura Nikkei 225 UCITS US Dollar-Hedged ETF”.
Mike Ward, Head of Equity Sales, EMEA, at Nomura, said: “These new ETFs provide best- in-class access to Japanese equities for our international clients, while allowing them to hedge currency risk. They are a direct response to the broad-based interest in Japanese equities among the international investor community.”
Foto: hierher. La UE y Suiza firman un acuerdo histórico de transparencia
The EU and Switzerland signed a historic new tax transparency agreement, which will significantly improve the fight against tax evasion. Under the agreement, both sides will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other’s residents from 2018. This spells an end to Swiss bank secrecy for EU residents and will prevent tax evaders from hiding undeclared income in Swiss accounts. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and Janis Reirs, Latvian Minister of Finance on behalf of the Latvian Presidency of the Council for the EU, and by the Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Matters, Jacques de Watteville.
Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: “Today’s agreement heralds a new era of tax transparency and cooperation between the EU and Switzerland. It is another blow against tax evaders, and another leap towards fairer taxation in Europe. The EU led the way on the automatic exchange of information, in the hope that our international partners would follow. This agreement is proof of what EU ambition and determination can achieve.”
The automatic exchange of information is widely recognized as one of the most effective instruments for fighting tax evasion. It provides tax authorities with essential information about their residents’ foreign income, so that they can assess and collect the taxes that are due on them.
Under the new EU-Swiss agreement, Member States will receive, on an annual basis, the names, addresses, tax identification numbers and dates of birth of their residents with accounts in Switzerland, as well as other financial and account balance information. This new transparency should not only improve Member States’ ability to track down and tackle tax evaders, but it should also act as a deterrent against hiding income and assets abroad to evade taxes.
The new EU-Swiss agreement is fully in line with the strengthened transparency requirements that Member States agreed amongst themselves last year. It is also consistent with the new OECD/G20 global standard for the automatic exchange of information.
The Commission is currently concluding negotiations for similar agreements with Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino, which are expected to be signed before the end of the year.
Photo: Paulo Brandao. Santander, Teachers' and PSP Investments Launch Cubico Sustainable Investments
Banco Santander, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board today announced the formal launch of Cubico Sustainable Investments, a London-headquartered firm established to manage and invest in renewable energy and water infrastructure assets globally.
Owned equally by Santander and two of Canada’s largest pension funds, Teachers and PSP Investments, the firm has significant capital to invest and is committed to a long-term growth strategy designed to make it one of the largest and best in class renewable energy and water investors in the world.
Following the transfer of 19 wind, solar and water infrastructure assets previously owned by Santander, Cubico has a balanced and diversified portfolio valued at more than US$2 billion. The assets in operation, construction or under development have a total capacity of more than 1,400 megawatts and are located across seven countries: Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The firm is led by Santander’s former Asset & Capital Structuring (A&CS) team of 30 professionals who specialize in managing and investing in infrastructure investments globally. A&CS team leader Marcos Sebares becomes Chief Executive Officer of the company. Alongside capital and financial expertise, a local Cubico specialist will take an important role in the management of each of its assets, ensuring that resources, contacts, ideas and knowledge of best practice are brought to all its investments.
The company has a flexible investment mandate and through its strong origination capability will focus on identifying assets that will achieve significant scale and value over the lifetime of its ownership. Cubico has the mandate to hold assets for the long term.
Cubico will be headquartered in London, with regional offices in Milan, Sao Paulo and Mexico DF. The company will build on the A&CS strategy of developing a global platform of diversified infrastructure assets that generate stable cash flows and superior returns.
Marcos Sebares, Chief Executive Officer, Cubico Sustainable Investments, commented: “Today represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter for us. Renewable and water infrastructure developments require decisive long-term investment and commitment. We are uniquely positioned to provide this through our strong ownership structure, experienced team and global footprint. We have already built a strong pipeline of attractive assets to add to the platform and look forward to working with our partners over the coming years to consolidate Cubico’s position as one of the world’s leading renewable energy and water infrastructure investors.”
Andrew Claerhout, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure at Teachers’, commented: “We are pleased to have worked with our partners to create Cubico. We look forward to supporting the strong management team and its efforts to build a platform for global growth in the renewable energy and water sector.”
Bruno Guilmette, Senior Vice-President, Infrastructure Investments at PSP Investments, commented: “We are pleased to have completed this landmark transaction alongside reputable partners such as Banco Santander and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. This new joint venture will allow us to continue to grow and develop our portfolio of private energy assets while contributing to environmentally sustainable energy production.”
Juan Andres Yanes, Senior Executive Vice President, Banco Santander S.A, commented: “This is the culmination of almost two years of focused work that started in 2013 with the identification of the sale opportunity and the best parties to join us in this innovative endeavour. We are pleased to start this new joint venture with Teachers’ and PSP Investments, two of the best known pension funds in infrastructure investment. We are confident that this venture represents a significant milestone for Santander to increase its footprint in the renewable and water infrastructure industry.”
Foto cedidaJosé Ignacio Goirigolzarri, presidente de Bankia, durante la Junta General Extraordinaria de Accionistas de Bankia . Los accionistas de Bankia aprueban la fusión con CaixaBank
BNY Mellon has been ranked as the top mutual fund service provider in 10 categories in the 2015 Mutual Fund Service Guide.
This year’s guide ranked BNY Mellon as the top:
Subaccounting services provider in all categories;
Full service transfer agency provider, ranked by number of clients;
Hedge fund services provider, ranked by total alternative fund assets under administration;
Hedge fund services provider, ranked by assets under administration;
Custody services provider, ranked by total custody assets,
Custody services provider, ranked by unit investment trust assets; and
Custody services provider, ranked by number of Exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“These rankings underline our strong position as a leader in the fund services arena, including traditional mutual funds, alternatives, and ETFs,” said Robert Mathisen, head of U.S. Financial Institutions for BNY Mellon. “Our focus on continuous improvement in technology, service and developing integrated solutions for our clients has been reflected in our strong rankings. It’s important to note that our highly ranked performance has been consistent, as we have achieved these top rankings for up to five years in some categories.”
The Mutual Fund Service Guide has been providing comparative analysis of mutual fund service providers since 1986. The guide surveys and ranks mutual fund service providers in the categories of fund accounting, transfer agency, subaccounting and custody. Additionally, it provides data on hedge fund services, regulatory and compliance services, and shareholder communication services.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Donkey Hotey
. Día Mundial de la Tierra: hay que abastecer alimentos mundialmente a precio razonable
BNP Paribas Investment Partners is adding a new fundamental active world equity fund, Parvest Equity Best Selection World, to its flagship Parvest umbrella fund. The fund is managed by its highly experienced Global Equity team that joined in February and is led by Simon Roberts.
Parvest Equity Best Selection World is a high conviction stock picking fund managed using an unconstrained long-only strategy with an absolute return philosophy. The portfolio consists of the fund managers’ top stock picks and is highly concentrated, with a maximum of 40 names. It is not benchmark-constrained and has a high active share of close to 90%, and is expected to have a tracking error in the range of 4-8%1.
The investment team seeks to identify companies based in Europe, the USA, Japan and Emerging Markets, which have strong compounding growth potential that has been underestimated by the market, or where companies are undergoing significant restructuring by reducing their asset base and therefore leading to increased and sustainable profitability.
Parvest Equity Best Selection World combines a proprietary quantitative screening process that identifies a universe of stocks with attractive financial characteristics with fundamental analysis to identify and invest in stocks with an expected risk-adjusted absolute annualised Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of at least 20%. Position sizes will be consistent with the expected IRR at any time and this approach is also a major part of the sell discipline. The fund follows a long-term investment approach, resulting in low turnover. It is expected that much of the alpha will be sourced from stock selection across sectors and that there will be no intentional style bias through time, which should enable it to perform in different market conditions.
Guy Davies, Director of Equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, comments: “We are pleased to announce the launch of Parvest Equity Best Selection World, managed by our recently-appointed global equity team. The team members average more than 20 years’ industry experience and have worked together for many years. They have a strong and demonstrable investment record, and being able to offer our clients this capability is a further step in our strategy of developing a world class equity proposition.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: James. Aberdeen to Acquire Flag Capital Management to Boost Global Alternatives Capability
Aberdeen Asset Management announce today it has entered into an agreement to acquire FLAG Capital Management, LLC (FLAG), a manager of private equity and real asset solutions with offices in Stamford CT, Boston, MA, and Hong Kong.
This acquisition is in line with Aberdeen’s strategy to strengthen and grow its global alternatives platform and solutions provision via multi-manager coverage of hedge funds, property and private market allocations, infrastructure investments and pan-alternative capabilities. FLAG’s well-established private equity teams in the U.S. and Asia will help broaden Aberdeen’s private markets solutions activity within the alternatives arena.
As of December 31, 2014 , FLAG managed assets of approximately $6.3 billion of invested and committed capital on behalf of its broad client base. FLAG is a diversified private markets solutions business focused on venture capital, small- to mid-cap private equity, and real assets in the U.S. , as well as private equity in the Asia-Pacific region. The business will be fully integrated into Aberdeen’s current private markets capability. This will position Aberdeen as a leading global private equity investor with over 50 investment professionals and roughly $15 billion of assets under management.
Aberdeen’s alternatives platform, overseen by Andrew McCaffery, Global Head of Alternatives, will have total assets under management of $21.3 billion following completion of the transaction.
The transaction provides key benefits to Aberdeen:
The addition of FLAG’s U.S.- and Asia-focused investment capability, combined with Aberdeen’s strength in Europe, will offer clients a compelling global private markets solutions proposition;
FLAG’s long-established presence across the institutional and high-net-worth client segments in the U.S. increases Aberdeen’s exposure to the region and enhances the footprint among family offices, endowments and public and corporate pension plans;
Aberdeen believe FLAG’s expertise in successfully launching private equity and real asset-linked products will permit Aberdeen to accelerate organic growth in this business segment;
FLAG’s funds bring highly stable revenues that are at low risk of outflows; once launched, each fund’s revenue stream is defined, based on committed capital and a fixed fee schedule over the multiple-year life of the fund, which typically is set at 12 years;
The integration of FLAG’s investment platform boosts Aberdeen’s pan-alternatives capability, allowing Aberdeen to provide to its client base a full range of private markets solutions.
Commenting on the transaction, Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen, said: “Institutional investors are increasingly looking towards alternative asset classes, including private market allocations, to diversify their portfolios and enhance returns. This transaction is in line with Aberdeen’s strategy of undertaking clear value-added acquisitions that will assist with accelerating business growth in this area. FLAG meets this objective in two ways. Initially, it strengthens further our private market capability by bringing additional Asian expertise and new U.S. resource. This will also benefit our overall pan-alternatives platform. Secondly, FLAG deepens and expands our U.S. client base, which is a key growth market for Aberdeen.”
Commenting on the transaction, Peter Lawrence, Chief Executive of FLAG, said: “We at FLAG are thrilled to be joining Aberdeen, not only because of its reputation and position as one of the leading global asset management firms, but also because of the clear cultural fit of our two organizations. We believe the combination serves the interests of all of our constituents, particularly our limited partners and the talented team of professionals that have built FLAG into the high-achieving, high integrity firm that attracted Aberdeen in the first place. Simply put, we can think of no better or more appropriate future for all involved. As integral members of Aberdeen’s private markets solutions team, we’re excited to deliver a truly global array of private capital solutions for our investors.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: Paul Downey. Amundi Launches Floating Rate Notes ETF
Amundi has launched the first ETF in Europe exposed to USD denominated floating rate notes. This fund aims to protect portfolios from interest rate moves.
The firm says that the ETF has a low degree of price sensitivity to interest rates and a yield moving in line with interest rates.
The fund has been listed on Euronext Paris and has already been recongnised by the Financial Conduct Authority. It will be soon cross-listed on the main European markets, including the London Stock Exchange.
Valerie Baudson, global head of ETF, Indexing and Smart Beta at Amundi, said: “Our innovative Floating Rate Notes range is of particular interest in today’s market for investors seeking a source of yield in a low rate environment and a hedge in the event of a rise in EUR and US short term rates. Our building blocks are innovation, cost-efficiency and quality of replication.”
Gold Bullion International (GBI) has announced the appointment of Jammy Chan as Head of Business Development for Asia. Mr. Chan will be responsible for sales and marketing of the firm’s precious metals solutions in Asia and will be based in Hong Kong.
“The investment appetite and sophistication for physical gold ownership are at an all-time high,” said Jammy Chan. “GBI offers a comprehensive solution for physical precious metals investment, featuring a robust platform for purchasing, global vaulting and insuring a wide range of products. GBI works with some of the largest wealth management firms in the United States and is looking to do the same in China. In fact, in the short time I have been at GBI, we have already added our first Hong Kong based wealth customer and are in a number of discussions with some of the region’s most prestigious institutions.”
Asia accounts for about two-thirds of global gold demand — with China and India the world’s top two consumers. These two countries alone account for about half of the world’s demand for gold.
Mr. Chan comes to GBI after four years as Head of Investment in China with the World Gold Council. He has held senior business development positions with Huaan Asset Management, Amundi and Fidelity. Over his 16 year career, Mr. Chan has covered business in the Greater China region from Hong Kong and also with onshore bases in Beijing and Shanghai. Mr. Chan earned a Bachelor’s Degree in finance from the University of Hong Kong and his MBA from Imperial College in London with full scholarship.
“We are very excited to expand our business into China, where gold is such an important asset class,” said Steven Feldman, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of GBI. “We continue to replicate our strategy in more regions around the globe. While our focus remains the wealth business, we are also launching GBI Direct internationally, often with local partners. Our Asian launch follows our recent debut in the Middle East, and having Jammy Chan on board makes us very confident that this region will be a great success.”
GBI is the leading institutional precious metals provider to individual investors and the wealth management industry. GBI’s technology and operations platform allows investors to acquire and manage their physical precious metal assets directly through their existing wealth management or e-commerce relationships, as well as directly through GBI Direct.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFlorent Rigaud nuevo director de la compañía con sede en Miami bFlexFunds - Foto cedida. Ex-director de la división de Pershing Latinoamérica se une a FlexFunds
Florent Rigaud, former Director of Pershing Latin America Division, recently announced his decision to accept the position of Director of Miami-based company, FlexFunds, working with asset managers on creating their FlexETP. FlexETP, a comprehensive vehicle for investment management and distribution, is wrapped and dispensed through a Euroclearable listed security, providing price (NAV) calculation and distribution, ISIN/CUSIP, Bloomberg page, trustee and audit services.
“This transition comes at a crucial time in the finance industry, where asset managers seeking custodial services, administration, and distribution, tend to undergo a process that dissuades growth and development by requiring more internal resources,” states Florent Rigaud. “With FlexETP, you benefit from a turnkey solution, quickly and easily establishing one of the most advantageous and flexible vehicles for raising capital and managing underlying assets. As the new Director of the New York office, I am thrilled with this opportunity and excited to witness FlexETP become a household name,” adds Florent Rigaud.
Mario Rivero, Director and Head of the FlexFunds Miami office, states, “It is a great privilege to welcome such an accomplished addition to our team. Florent is already proving himself to be a great asset, bringing with him 20 years’ experience in the industry with an established reputation in the region.”
Blackstone announced that Doug Ostrover will step down as a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone and will become a Senior Adviser to the firm. Mr. Ostrover was, along with Bennett Goodman and Tripp Smith, one of the foundersof GSO, Blackstone’s alternative credit platform. Blackstone acquired GSO in 2008 and it now has assets under management of $75 billion. Mr. Ostrover intends to found a family office to invest capital and work alongside management teams.
Bennett Goodman and Tripp Smith,the co-heads of GSO, said, “Doug has been our great friend and colleague for the last 25 years. The success of GSO as the leading alternative credit platform in the market today is in no small measure the result of Doug’s creative thinking and energy. While we will miss him as a colleague, we are delighted that we will still have the benefit of his advice and counsel as a Senior Adviser.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Blackstone, added, “On behalf of all of us at the firm, I want to thank Doug for his many contributions to Blackstone and GSO. He leaves behind a deep bench of finance professionals at GSO, whom he helped mentor and train over the years. I wish him well in the next stage of his career and I am glad that he is keeping a continuing affiliation with the firm.”
Before co-founding GSO in 2005, Mr. Ostrover was Chairman of the Leveraged Finance Group of CSFB. Mr. Ostrover received a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Stern School of Business of New York University.
