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Next week, Investec Asset Management shall have the pleasure of organizing the eighth edition of its global investment conference, Investec Global Insights 2015. The asset management company will gather 250 delegates from 23 countries worldwide in London, with the aim of providing its clients with the most complete and updated analysis for making their investment decisions.

After the last twelve months, during which the market has undergone some significant changes, the content of the conference is more relevant than ever. Attendees from the United States, Latin America, Europe, UK, Middle East, Africa, and Asia will have the opportunity to attend several ‘Meet the Portfolio Manager’ sessions and interact with peers from major fund buyers from all around the world.

This year, some of the featured presentations will focus on the following topics:

Is it still worth investing in emerging markets?
Are developed markets looking stretched?
When will rates rise and what will be the impact?
How do you find sustainable sources of income?

Outside the purely financial field, the conference will feature the starring presentation of Francois Pienaar, captain of the South Africa National Rugby Union team from 1993 to 1996. He will share his experiences, which led the team to win the Rugby World Cup in 1995. In Invictus, the film based on this feat directed by Clint Eastwood, Pienaar is played by Matt Damon.

Richard Garland, Investec’s Managing Director, will act as conductor of the event for the duration of the conference.

For further information on the event’s agenda please consult the attached document.

Neuberger Berman Appoints Javier Nuñez de Villavicencio to Lead Business Development across Iberia

Neuberger Berman abre oficina en España y nombra a Javier Núñez de Villavicencio para dirigir la expansión del negocio en Iberia — Javier Núñez de Villavicencio / Courtesy photo. Neuberger Berman Appoints Javier Nuñez de Villavicencio to Lead Business Development across Iberia

Neuberger Berman, one of the world’s leading private, employee-owned investment managers, announces the appointment of Javier Nunez de Villavicencio to lead its client relationship management and business development activities in Spain and Portugal, effective immediately. Based in Madrid, Javier reports to Dik van Lomwel, Head of EMEA and LatAm at Neuberger Berman.

Dik van Lomwel comments, “As we deepen and strengthen our client base in these key markets it is important to have experienced professionals with local expertise.Javier has been representing us for two years in an external capacity and we look forward to bringing him in-house.”

Javier has over 30 years’ experience including more than a decade spent at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in Madrid, where he was Head of Spain and Portugal. Previously Javier was at JP Morgan as Head of Equity Sales in Madrid and subsequently Head of International Equity Sales in New York.

On his appointment, Javier commented, “Being familiar with Neuberger Berman, I believe it offers a compelling proposition for the Iberian client-base who, like many at this time, seek higher yielding investment solutions whilst also preserving capital. Neuberger Berman’s broad platform across all asset classes puts the firm in a strong position to help clients achieve their investment objectives. I look forward to building on the momentum we have already achieved in the region.”

Japan: Goodbye Deflation?

Japón: ¿Adiós a la deflación? — CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: OTA fotos. Japan: Goodbye Deflation?

Shinzō Abe had ambitious plans following his re-election as Prime Minister of Japan in 2012. He was prepared to pull all the levers available to him, in the form of radical economic and reformist polices, to end Japan’s ‘lost decades’ of crippling deflation. While the success of his reformist policies might be up for debate, his monetary and fiscal stimulus plans have finally seen both inflation and the stock market moving in the right direction – upwards (see chart below). “Abe ‘gets it’: everything that can be done to end deflation and return to growth must be done. And the only way to dig yourself out of deflation is to aggressively inflate your way out of it”, writes the Japanese Equity Team at Henderson.

Land of rising inflation (just)

Banks bounce back

These policies have helped Japanese equities to become one of the best performing asset classes so far this year, albeit at the expense of a significantly weakened yen. One particular beneficiary has been financials, point out Henderson. In recent years the sector has been buoyed by banks finally writing-off legacy bad loans, leaving their balance sheets stronger than most of their developed world counterparts. In addition, the banks’ Tier 1 capital ratios have been buoyed by the surge in the equity market.

For most western banks, this capital tends to be held in low-risk fixed income assets, with a low percentage held in equities. However, in Japan a significant proportion is held in non-financial domestic equities. In a reflationary environment, this surge in equity shareholdings has bolstered the capital of banks, leaving them far more sufficiently capitalised to withstand any unforeseen shocks, while also being well positioned to benefit from any recovery in the domestic economy.

The road ahead

Longer term, financials are set to benefit from any rise in interest rates, which have remained ultra-low in Japan for decades. A rise – albeit likely a very small and gradual one – would allow banks to earn a higher net interest margin. That is, the margin on what can be earned from the lending activities of banks, versus what is paid to depositors, increases. However, this currently feels like a distant prospect, with markets not forecasting a rise in rates until the second half of 2016.

“In the meantime, we see opportunities in those domestically-orientated companies that are likely to benefit from a recovery in the economy. Most notably the service and retail sectors should benefit, following the lull induced by the 2014 consumption tax hike, which saw the tax on goods and services rise from 5% to 8%. Stocks we hold in these sectors include Rakuten, Japan’s leading ecommerce company, and Fujitsu. The latter has new management, which we hope will focus more on its highly cash-generative core IT service business”, explains the Japanese Equity Team.

“It is too early for Abe to claim economic victory. However, should he continue with his economic and reformist policies, we could finally see a return to something approaching ‘normality’, much to the relief of the country’s ever-patient investor base”, concludes.

Economic Uncertainties in The U.S. Keeping CFOs Up at Night

Los directores financieros de Estados Unidos, a la caza de talento — Photo: Deurim Poyu. Economic Uncertainties in The U.S. Keeping CFOs Up at Night

The nation’s finance chiefs are relatively optimistic about the future, but remain cautious in the face of domestic uncertainties like Congressional inaction on tax reform. This is according to the latest edition of Grant Thornton LLP’s CFO Survey, which reflects the insights of more than 900 chief financial officers and other senior financial executives across the United States.

More than half (55 percent) of CFOs say uncertainty in the U.S. economy is a major concern that could impact their businesses’ growth in the next 12 months. This is despite the fact that most CFOs expect the U.S. economy overall to remain the same (49 percent) or improve (43 percent) in the next 12 months, suggesting that factors other than the overall health of the economy are presenting a barrier to growth.

“While the U.S. economy has stabilized, our data suggest that uncertainty related to other economic factors is making strategic planning difficult for financial executives,” said Randy Robason, Grant Thornton’s national managing partner of Tax Services. “CFOs are looking to Washington, regulators and the Federal Reserve for answers and getting nothing but indecision.”

Business leaders’ concern over these economic uncertainties appears to have increased significantly since earlier this year. In May 2015, only net 22 percent of U.S. business leaders saw economic uncertainty as a major constraint on their ability to grow in the coming year, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report.

Particularly frustrating for CFOs is the dysfunction in Congress over a bill to extend more than 50 popular tax provisions that expired at the end of 2014.

Meanwhile, good news for finance professionals: CFOs are aggressively looking to develop and hire new talent. The vast majority (70 percent) of CFOs say finding and retaining the right talent is a critical need for supporting growth. Forty percent expect their business’s new hiring to increase in the next six months; 52 percent expect hiring to remain the same. A majority of CFOs (67 percent) plan to increase salaries in the coming year, holding steady since 2014.

Put Your Bond Manager to the Liquidity Test

Las tres preguntas clave sobre liquidez que hay que hacerle a los gestores de deuda — CC-BY-SA-2.0, Flickr. Put Your Bond Manager to the Liquidity Test

Bond market liquidity is drying up—something every investor and financial advisor should take seriously. But liquidity risk can also provide an additional source of returns. The trick is knowing how to manage it, point out AB.

This is why picking the right manager is critical. Before entrusting money to anyone, investors or their advisors should make sure prospective managers understand why liquidity is evaporating and have an investment process that can effectively manage this growing risk.

In AB’s view, settling for anything less will make it harder to protect your portfolio from the damage less liquid markets can cause—and to seize the opportunities they offer.

Here are some questions that Douglas J. Peebles, Chief Investment Officer and Head at AllianceBernstein Fixed Income, and Ashish Shah, Head of Global Credit, feel investors should be asking.

1) To what do you attribute the decline in liquidity?

For most people, an asset is liquid if it can be bought or sold quickly without significantly affecting its price—something that’s become more difficult lately.

Many market participants blame post–financial crisis banking regulations. Designed to make banks safer, the new rules have also made them less willing to take risks. Consequently, most banks are no longer big buyers and sellers of corporate bonds. In the past, banks’ involvement—particularly in high yield—helped keep price fluctuations in check and meant investors could usually count on them as buyers when others wanted to sell.

But because they affect the supply of liquidity, regulations are only part of the story. Several other trends have drastically increased the potential demand for liquidity. These include investor crowding and the growing use of risk-management strategies that use leverage and make it hard for investors to ride out short-term volatility.

In one way or another, these trends have driven investors around the world to behave in the same way at the same time. That distorts asset prices and suggests investors may find that their asset isn’t liquid when they need it to be. If a shock hits the market and a fire starts, each of these trends may act as an accelerant.

Managers who think regulation is the only cause of the liquidity drought probably aren’t seeing the big picture. That could make your portfolio more vulnerable in a crisis.

2) Has your investment process changed as liquidity has dried up?

Since it’s risky to assume that liquidity will be there when it’s needed, a manager should be comfortable with the notion of holding the bonds in his or her portfolio for a long time—possibly to maturity (Display). Since that requires deep analysis and a selective eye, ask about a manager’s credit research process and how it has changed.

Managers should also be reducing the risk of getting trapped in crowded trades by taking a multi-sector approach. This way, if selling spikes in one overcrowded corner of the credit market—let’s say emerging markets or high yield—investment managers can quickly and easily move into investment-grade bonds or another sector where liquidity is more plentiful.

Staying out of crowded trades also puts investors in a position to make decisions based on value, not popularity. Managers who do this—and who keep some cash on hand—will be in a better position to swoop in and buy attractive assets when others are desperate to sell.

This ability to be agile and take the other side of popular trades can be a crucial advantage when other investors have to sell. Think of those who used the 2013 “taper tantrum” to buy attractive bonds when everyone else was hitting the sell button. For providing liquidity when others needed it, they were compensated with higher yields.

3) How are you dealing with volatility?

Volatility is a fact of life in markets, and investors should expect more of it as liquidity dries up. The best thing a manager can do is to be prepared.

For instance, does the manager buy “call” or “put” options—the right to buy or sell an asset in the future at a predetermined price to protect against a big liquidity-induced market move? In our view, doing so is a lot like spending $3 on an umbrella when the sun is shining. After all, it’s going to rain eventually.

The alternative—waiting until volatility rises and prices fall before selling—is akin to buying the umbrella after the storm has started. Chances are you’ll pay $5 for it—and you’ll get soaked as you run through the rain to get it.

4) What role do traders play?

Historically, traders at asset management firms mostly executed orders. But as banks have retreated from the bond-trading business, the responsibilities of buy-side traders have grown. Managers who embrace a hands-on role for traders are more likely to turn illiquidity to their advantage.

A few questions to consider: Do traders play an active role in the entire investment process? Are they skilled enough to find sources of liquidity when it’s scarce and make the most of opportunities caused by its ebb and flow? Do traders understand the manager’s strategies?

If a manager can’t answer these questions, advisors should find someone else to oversee their clients’ assets.

BMO Global Asset Management Appoints Luis Martin as Head of Sales in Spain for Planned Madrid Office

Luis Martín liderará la actividad comercial en España de la gestora BMO Global AM — . BMO Global Asset Management Appoints Luis Martin as Head of Sales in Spain for Planned Madrid Office

BMO Global Asset Management has further expanded its European distribution team with the appointment of Luis Martín Hoyos as Head of Sales, Spain, effective immediately.

Martín joins the firm from BlackRock where he was Head of Retail & Institutional Sales for the Iberia region, where he spent three and a half years. Prior to this, Mr Martín held roles serving the wholesale market, as Senior Sales Manager at JP Morgan and was previously in wholesale at Alliance Bernstein.

At BMO Global Asset Management, he will be responsible for overseeing the distribution of the firm’s products and strategies in Spain, across both existing capabilities (including F&C Investments and BMO’s boutique managers) and soon to be launched strategies and products such as ETFs.

He reports to Georg Kyd-Rebenburg, Head of European Distribution, BMO Global Asset Management. Martín will be based in London initially, prior to re-locating to a new Madrid office that should open in October 2015.

“We are pleased to have someone of Luis’ calibre and experience joining the firm, as we continue to expand our reach across Europe,” said Georg Kyd-Rebenburg, Head of European Distribution, BMO Global Asset Management. “We look forward to leveraging his deep expertise to enable us to serve clients and prospects in this fast-growing market.”

BMO Global Asset Management is a global investment manager delivering service excellence from 24 offices in 14 countries to clients across five continents. Including discretionary and nondiscretionary assets, BMO Global Asset Management had more than USD $244 billion in assets under management, as of July 31, 2015.

Led by four multi-disciplined investment teams based in Toronto, Chicago, London and Hong Kong, the organization is complemented by a network of world-class boutique managers strategically located across the globe. They include BMO Real Estate Partners, LGM Investments, Monegy, Inc., Pyrford International Ltd., and Taplin, Canida & Habacht, LLC.

With operations throughout North America and Europe, and in Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Sydney, BMO Global Asset Management has been recognized by Pension & Investments as one of the world’s largest 100 asset managers based on combined assets under management as of December 31, 2013 and is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment initiative (UNPRI).

BMO Global Asset Management is a part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE: BMO), a fully diversified financial services organization with $672 billion as of July 31, 2015, and more than 47,000 employees.

European Equities: A Return To Normality? What Is The New Normal?

La renta variable europea vuelve a la normalidad pero, ¿qué es lo normal? — Photo: Santi Villamarín. European Equities: A Return To Normality? What Is The New Normal?

Any attempt to gauge where European markets are in terms of ‘normality’ is fraught with dangers. Inevitably, and rightly, everyone has a different understanding of what is ‘normal’.

My working premise for some years has been that Europe is a low growth area. When the Henderson Horizon Pan European Equity Fund was launched in November 2001, we said investment opportunities would come from how governments, companies, individuals, and investment styles change rather than because of ‘growth’ per se. One of the reasons for that stance was years of frustrating meetings with asset allocators who would quickly write off Europe in preference for higher growth in emerging markets or Asia, while ignoring what consumers in those markets aspired to or were already buying.

Low for longer

Growth in Europe is now finally picking up. Yet because growth in the UK and US started recovering quite a lot earlier, those markets are looking for an opportunity to return interest rates to a more ‘normal’ level. This may well happen within the next 6 to 12 months, and that fact should not be spooking the market as much as it currently is. It is a ‘good’ thing; but to expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to follow suit straight afterwards is utterly wrong. European economic growth is better, but still weak. There is very little pricing power and inflation is still way below the ECB target of 2%. While core inflation* has now accelerated to 1.0% (see chart), it is likely to remain below target for some time given oil and raw material price developments.

Brave new world

The crux of the issue is that the ‘new normal’ might just be a world of low growth. Now that China is increasingly recognised as growing at a slower pace, and emerging markets are suffering due to weaker currencies and lower demand worldwide, there is no region where higher growth can compensate for lower growth in other regions of the world. This goes some way to explaining the sustained popularity of higher-rated growth stocks, although given the premium investors have placed on such stocks, it only takes a relatively small earnings shock to see these share prices fall considerably.

In a world of close to no growth, ‘only’ 10% revenue growth can be perceived as ‘high’ growth. There is nothing ‘normal’ about that! Against this reshaped backdrop, our approach remains focussed on investing in quality, reliable, cash-generative businesses that should perform well through a range of economic cycles.

Tim Stevenson is Director of European Equities as Henderson and has over 30 years’ investment experience.

Italian Fund Manager Anima To Land in the Spanish Market Through Selinca

Italian fund manager Anima has landed in the Spanish market, with the registration of its Irish Sicav in the Spanish regulator, CNMV. In this interview with Funds Society, Andrea Mandraccio, Head of Institutional Clients Division at Anima, explains its objetives for the future.

Why have you made the decision to enter in Spain now?

Anima is today a reference point in the Italian asset management industry with a total AUM of 65 billion euros (data as of July 31, 2015). Through a combination of diversified and complementary backgrounds and know-how, Anima’s products and services figure among the widest available on the Italian market. The range of products includes wealth management services both for retail and institutional clients. Anima offers Italian mutual funds, open-ended umbrella funds domiciled in Ireland and in Luxembourg and pension funds.

Having achieved a significant reach in the Italian market we are moving our first steps abroad since mid 2014 through our Institutional Client Division. As of today we have clients in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg. We’ve targeted the Spanish market as the first country to approach with a structured effort through the partnership with a solid operator such as Selinca, since the structure of the market (relationship between Asset managers and banks), size and culture is similar to our own.

What are your objectives in the Spanish market? Is it a big potencial market for you?

We think that through the partnership with Selinca, we can potentially achieve an interesting penetration of the Spanish market. Spanish market is very similar to the Italian market by structure with a particular focus to the fund buyers space. Similarities between our economies and needs of savers other than their historical experience and culture make us think that investment solutions studied for the Italian market would be viable also for the Spanish market.

To get them, what does your sicav look like?

For the Spanish market we’ve just registered our Irish Sicav. The main strategies we want to present in the Spanish market are the essence of our best capabilities: Anima is a leading player in the equity market – in particular with a European focus. Our CIO Lars Schickentanz who’s running our long only flagship European fund and absolute return European fund has more than 20 years of experience in the management of such products and a proven track record.

Our offer will also include Absolute return strategies in the fixed income space which are becoming a specific need for asset allocators going forward, where we can as well show proven numbers and a different approach vs our main international competitors.

Finally we think the Italian equity market – one of the most de-rated of the past years – today offers interesting pockets of value which could be disclosed through a dynamic and absolute approach. Our team has a long standing experience and excellent numbers on their side in out domestic stock market.

You registered also a sicav in Luxembourg in 2006 that is in CNMV…

In the Spanish market we’ve decided to register our Irish Sicav funds, since those products are historically the clones of our Flagship Italian vehicles. New strategies are today launched through our Irish branch, so we think this is the best tool to approach a new market.

Being Anima the result of mergers between multiple Asset managers we have also a Luxemburg sicav coming from another of our constituent Asset Managers.

Who will be your distributor in Spain?

Our distributor in Spain is Allfunds Bank S.A.

Animais an historical player in the Italian asset management industry and today is a leading independent operator in the field. The company was born in 2012 from a process of mergers between Italian Asset management companies. Since April 2014 the Holding of the Anima Group was listed in the Italian Stock Exchange and today roughly 70% of the capital is owned by the market. Anima Sgr is headquartered in Milan, but it is also present in Ireland and Luxembourg, through its subsidiaries Anima Asset Management and Anima Management Company respectively.

Anima is a reference point in the Italian asset management industry, with more than one hundred distribution agreements and one million customers, with strong partnership with leading banking groups.

Roderick Munsters to Leave Robeco