BlackRock has received an estimated almost US$500 mn from Afore Banamex to execute the global and European equities mandate granted in October 2013.
Thereby, the North American Fund Manager becomes part of the select club of foreign asset managementc firms to receive funds from this Afore, which is the only one which has funded its mandates since the “Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro” (CONSAR), a national commission for the retirement savings system, allowed these transactions.
Afore Banamex said in a statement that of the four mandates awarded, one is for US$220 mn in global equity granted to Blackrock (Global), and the other three totaling almost US$600 mn in European equity were granted to BNP Paribas, Franklin Templeton, and Blackrock in Europe, respectively.
“Through this strategy, workers affiliated to Afore Banamex will be able to maximize their returns. These four mandates bring to seven the total number of mandates which have already been funded,” said Grupo Financiero Banamex’ Retirement Funds Administrator.
Afore SURA and Afore Banorte, two other major pension fund managers in the country, have granted mandates, BlackRock has mandates from both, but have not as yet funded any of them.
“We are thrilled to confirm that we have funded two mandates for Afore Banamex, which will promote the diversification of their investment strategy. Through the mandates, Afore Banamex hired BlackRock in order to offer its clients access to global and European equities’ investment markets,” said Samantha Ricciardi, CEO of BlackRock Mexico.
“These are the first two investment mandates which we fund in the Mexican market, and we believe that the valuable experience we have established throughout this process, coupled with the dedicated local team, and our commitment to bring to Mexico a local supply of global investment resources, is essential in order to continue offering Afores the best active investment solutions,” continues Ricciardi. “ These factors will contribute to the funding process for other mandates for which we have been selected as managers and which are in the pipeline, positioning ourselves as the leading international asset manager in the active investment sector in Mexico “
The management company, strongly committed to the Mexican institutional market, reinforced its team about a year ago with the appointment of Roque Calleja as the new Head responsible for developing the list of Afore mandates. These institutions currently manage a total of US$200 bn and, so far, have been awarded about US$5.5 bn in mandates. Since it is expected that up to 10% of its assets shall be granted in mandates, the potential for management companies is very high. On the other hand, one would expect that, given that there is a real breakthrough in terms of mandates and funding, Afores will shortly begin to consider other types of assets, such as commodities, for example, as so far they have opted for simple assets (global, European, and American equities).
CONSAR authorized Afore Banamex to carry out a transaction through investment mandates for the first time in SAR’s history in August 2013. The mandate was granted to Schroeders, and although it was for US$200 mn initially, it was ultimately extended to US$400 mn. Schroeders also funded its second mandate, amounting to US$470 mn for European equities, in April 2014. In September 2014 Pioneer Investments received funding of $ 400 million for European equities.
There are further transactions pending, as in January this year Afore Banamex reported that it had awarded a new international investment mandate for an amount between US$500-600 mn in separate accounts to four international management companies: Wellington Management, BlackRock, Pioneer Investments, and Nomura Asset Management.
