Foto cedidaClément Maclou, gestor del fondo Landolt Investment (Lux) SICAV - Best Selection in Food Industry de ODDO BHF AM. . Clément Maclou se incorpora al equipo de renta variable temática global del Grupo ODDO BHF
The ODDO BHF group is strengthening its global thematic equity management team with the arrival of Clément Maclou as equity manager. The firm highlighted in a press release that this appointment is part of its commitment to accelerate its development by relying on the alliance with Landolt & Cie in Switzerland.
Based in Switzerland, Maclou will take charge of the Landolt Investment (Lux) SICAV – Best Selection in Food Industry strategy, the objective of which is to invest in listed global companies, active across the entire value chain within the agricultural and food industry sectors. This thematic strategy -which is registered in Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany and Luxemburg- aims to provide its clients with direct exposure to the global structural trend of the food revolution.
Since 2016, Maclou has been responsible for the management of thematic equity funds at Decalia Asset Management in Switzerland. In 2005, he joined CPR Asset management in France as a thematic equity fund manager.
“We are seeing strong demand from our clients for thematic equity funds. Continuing to enhance our offer to give them access to promising themes is therefore a major development area for the group, to which Clément will actively contribute”; said Laurent Denize, Co-CIO of ODDO BHF Asset Management.
Meanwhile, Thierry Lombard, partner at ODDO BHF and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banque Landolt, where he initiated the Future of Food project, pointed out that the food revolution is a vital issue for our planet and the future of young generations.
“Starting from the field to the fork, we are bringing together all the challenges that humanity must meet, among which I would like to mention: the environment, agricultural production and distribution, and health. I am therefore delighted that this expertise, reinforced by the arrival of Maclou, will complement the know-how of the ODDO BHF group”, he said.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Allianz GI amplía su oferta de fondos para acciones de China continental
Allianz Global Investors has launched the Allianz China A Opportunities fund. In a press release, the asset manager revealed that it is an extension of the Allianz China A-Shares and Allianz All China Equity product family.
The strategy invests in Chinese mainland equities (so-called A-shares) through a concentrated portfolio of around 45 stocks and is managed by an experienced portfolio management team consisting of Anthony Wong, Sunny Chung and Kevin You.
Allianz GI pointed out that the management team aims to identify “the most promising” large and mid-cap Chinese mainland stocks, based on fundamental criteria and with their proven stock-selection process. The investment philosophy is consistent with the Allianz China A-Shares fund but focuses on fewer stocks. The actively managed Allianz China A-Shares has outperformed its benchmark in each of the last five years under the stewardship of Anthony Wong and Sunny Chung.
“In a few days, China will begin the Year of the Ox, an animal that represents strength, perseverance and straightforwardness. Looking at the performance of Chinese equities in recent months, these attributes also seem to fit the stock market. With the Allianz China A Opportunities fund, we are now offering clients a new vehicle which allows investors to participate in China’s long term growth potential in a high conviction portfolio”, Anthony Wong, portfolio manager for Chinese equities, commented.
Arne Tölsner, Head of Distribution Germany, added that China is an economic giant, but is still underrepresented in conventional equity indices. In his view, this will change in the coming years, as they expect Chinese equities soon to be perceived and allocated as an asset class in their own right, alongside US equities and European stocks.
“With the two funds Allianz China A-Shares and Allianz China A Opportunities, which target Chinese mainland equities, and the broader Allianz All China Equity fund, which also includes the so-called H-shares traded in Hong Kong, AllianzGI now offers clients a well-rounded package to participate in the upward trend of the country”, he concluded.
Foto cedidaJim Leaviss (M&G), gestor del fondo M&G (Lux) Global Macro Bond y CIO de renta fija en M&G Investments.. Jim Leaviss (M&G): “El entorno de bajos tipos de interés representa el mayor reto para los inversores en renta fija”
Jim Leaviss, CIO of Public Fixed Income at M&G Investments, has over 30 years of experience in the industry, so he’s basically seen it all. That’s why in this interview we discussed with him the current environment and potential investment opportunities in the fixed income market.
Question: Low rates, negative yields on government bonds, inflation, purchase programs, increased defaults… What is the main challenge for fixed income managers?
Answer: The low interest rate environment arguably presents the greatest challenge for fixed income investors, although through a flexible and diversified approach we believe it is possible to capture attractive pockets of value across global bond markets. With this flexibility, we can constantly reassess relative value, ranging from government bonds and inflation-linked securities, to all segments of corporate bonds and emerging market debt.
Q: Looking ahead to preparing portfolios for 2021, in which fixed income assets do you see value? And by geographic area?
A: We continue to hold a constructive view on long-term valuations in emerging debt markets on a selective basis, given factors such as the real yields available in many developing countries. In addition, the backdrop of low or negative yields in developed markets has helped to underline the attraction of higher yields that can still be found among emerging market bonds. While default rates in emerging markets may be expected to rise, we believe that opportunities can still be found that offer adequate compensation for default risk. We would also note emerging markets continue to compare favourably versus developed nations on considerations such as economic growth forecasts and debt-to-GDP ratios.
Q: Considering the M&G (Lux) Global Macro Bond Fund, we see that you use currency exposure to generate returns, but also to reduce risk. Could you explain this strategy and how it is translated into portfolio exposure?
A: We consider currency investing to be a natural extension of bond investing which provides the potential to add value to performance. Within our currency approach, we examine the relative attractiveness of different currencies, analyzing indicators such as capital flows, economic growth, current account balances, monetary policy, and valuation metrics such as real effective exchange rates and purchasing power parity. In doing so, we seek to weigh up the relative values of currencies and assess how they may change.
The outcome of this process is that we only hold currencies that we expect to perform well. Relevantly, a diversity of factors typically has driven performance across global currency markets. Some currencies, such as the Norwegian krona and Canadian dollar, have tended to correlate positively to the oil price and to inflation. This may lead us to hold them in conjunction with inflation-linked bonds as we seek to increase the fund’s inflation sensitivity. Other currencies, such as the US dollar and Japanese yen, are typically viewed as ‘risk-off’ currencies that have tended to do well in times of market stress. Through such considerations, we always view currencies within the context of the other assets held in the portfolio, and approach currency positioning not only as a means to try to generate returns, but also as a way to manage and diversify risk.
Q: In the long term, how would a return to normal life and central banks being less active in the bond markets affect fixed income?
A: We think the encouraging developments regarding the COVID-19 vaccine will undoubtedly help to accelerate a return to normality and we could see a strong rebound in economic activity this year. This could have significant implications for the direction of travel in fixed income markets. For example, we think negative US interest rates now look unlikely, and we would expect the next move in rates to be up rather than down. For these reasons, we are staying cautiously positioned from a duration perspective.
At the same time, we believe many of the long-term trends that have driven yields lower over the past 30 years remain in place (such as ageing populations, technological developments and globalization), so we would not expect to see any significant rise in government bond yields. We will therefore remain flexible and look for opportunities to add duration where we see attractive value.
Q: How are fixed-income portfolios adapting to this low-for-long interest rate horizon?
A: As outlined above, we believe a flexible approach will be key to adding value in an environment of long-term, low interest rates. While we view the vaccine arrival as a positive development, the global economy still faces significant challenges. We therefore remain fairly defensive positioned overall, with a sizeable allocation to government debt. We have also been reducing our allocation to corporate bonds -especially high yield credit- given the recent tightening in credit spreads and continued economic difficulties caused by the pandemic. However, we believe there is still value to be found within global bond markets, and we maintain a constructive outlook on a number of emerging markets.
Q: In this sense, will we return to normal monetary policy or are we at an impasse? Which assets will suffer in a rate hike scenario?
A: We believe the world’s central banks will continue to support bond markets, whether through low interest rates or through an extension of their QE programs. While we think a modest rise in interest rates is possible as economic growth picks-up next year, we would not expect rates to return anywhere close to their historic levels. In this respect, we are not expecting a return of ‘normal monetary’ policy any time soon. While we remain cautiously positioned from a duration perspective for the time being, we could well take advantage of any future rise in yields to add some duration risk where we see value.
Q: Some analysts are suggesting that by the second half of 2021 we will see a bit of inflation. What is your outlook? Should we hedge portfolios for a possible increase in inflation?
A: In the near-term, the pandemic appears to have had a deflationary impact, with significantly reduced demand more than offsetting any supply factors. We do think inflation is likely to pick-up this year as economies reopen and consumers start to spend again. We are also mindful of the potentially inflationary impact of huge levels of fiscal stimulus from government around the world. For these reasons, we maintain some inflation-linked exposure, such as an allocation to US TIPS which we believe provide an attractive way to hedge against higher US inflation. That said, we believe many of the underlying forces that have kept inflation low for the past couple of decades remain in place and our base case scenario is for inflation to remain relatively subdued for the next few years.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Regnan lanza el fondo Global Equity Impact para inversores pertenecientes a la Unión Europea
Regnan, the responsible investment management business affiliated with JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM), has announced the launch of the Regnan Global Equity Impact Solutions Fund (RGEIS) for EU-based investors. The firm has also appointed Freeman Le Page as Portfolio Specialist.
In a press release, the asset manager revealed that the strategy will be available via Regnan’s Dublin-domiciled OEIC fund range. This comes after the launch of vehicles for UK and Australian-based investors in October and December 2020 respectively.
The fund aims to generate long-term outperformance by investing in mission-driven companies that create value for investors by providing solutions for the growing unmet sustainability needs of society and the environment, using the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 underlying targets as an investment lens. Regnan also pointed out that it is a high conviction, diversified, global multi-cap fund with a strong emphasis on driving additional impact through engagement.
An annual management charge of 0.75% will apply for the Dublin-domiciled fund’s ‘A’ share class, with euro, unhedged and hedged, sterling and US dollar share classes available, subject to a minimum £1,000 investment, or currency equivalent. Furthermore, founder investors can take advantage of a seed share class featuring reduced fees and an expense ratio cap.
A new portfolio specialist
The asset manager also announced the appointment of Freeman Le Page as Portfolio Specialist. He joins from Newton Investment Management where he was SRI Client Director, managing accounts for investors with responsible investment mandates. Based in London, Le Page will be supporting Regnan’s investment strategies and the growth of the business in this newly created role.
Led by Tim Crockford, the Regnan Equity Impact Solutions team are pioneers in impact investing in public equity markets. The team previously managed the Hermes Impact Opportunities Equity Fund, which Crockford launched in December 2017.
“We are excited to bring the fund to European investors after the launch of our UK and Australian funds last year. We are seeing increasing interest in public market impact investing across Europe. Investors are being drawn to an approach that promotes long-term investment in companies providing solutions to the environmental and social problems facing the world while at the same targeting an index-beating return”, Crockford said.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. SKY Harbor transforma todas sus estrategias en sostenibles
SKY Harbor announced in a press release the transformation of all of its investment vehicles into ESG funds. Additionally, two of these US high yield strategies are widening their potential investment universe by incorporating non-dollar issuers and are thus becoming global.
The asset manager highlighted that it has long been supporting high yield investors in their quest to integrate sustainability into their risk-taking. As a further evolution of this commitment, all three sub-funds of the SKY Harbor Global Funds Sicav –totaling over 2.8 billion dollars of assets under management– are now effectively embedding sustainable investment principles.
“The below investment grade issuer universe is not well-positioned for the transition to a more sustainable economy given that in many cases they have secularly or cyclically challenged business models and lack the scale that would be supportive of a pivot to more sustainable products, processes and behaviors. We do, however, believe that supporting the companies where the commitment is sincere is our duty as responsible asset managers. Furthermore, we are convinced that investments in companies that position themselves for a more sustainable economy will deliver higher returns with lower risk over time”, said Hannah Strasser, founder and CEO of SKY Harbor.
The asset manager pointed out that, consequently, now the entire SKY Harbor Global Funds Sicav is complying with the latest and most stringent regulatory developments within the European Union, notably meeting the “significantly engaging” criteria from the French AMF doctrine. This means that eligible bond issuers will be measured by their transparency and disclosure of key climate-related risks, commitment to the communities in which they operate, focus on governance, health and safety, and policies and commitments around diversity and inclusion. All in all, “exposure to sectors and industries that are deemed to have unsustainable characteristics is minimized“, they said.
Further proof of its commitment is that all the commingled funds that SKY Harbor is either managing or sub-advising in Europe, in the US and in South America, which account for the majority of their assets under management, are about to implement such a Sustainable investment approach.
Foto cedidaPaul Schofield, nuevo director del equipo de renta variable sostenible y de impacto de NN IP. . Paul Schofield, Jeremy Kent y Pieter van Diepen se unen al equipo de renta variable sostenible y de impacto de NN IP
NN Investment Partners (NN IP) announced in a press release the strengthening of its sustainable and impact equity team with senior appointments. Specifically, Paul Schofield, Jeremy Kent and Pieter van Diepen will be the ones to join the company as of 1 April and will be based in London and The Hague.
The asset manager revealed that Schofield has been appointed Head of Sustainable & Impact Equity, leading a team of 19 experienced investment professionals. He brings over 20 years of experience in equity investing and joins from Allianz GI, where he was Lead Portfolio Manager of the Sustainable Equity range alongside several other global equity strategies. At NN IP, he will report to Jeroen Bos, Head of Specialised Equity and Responsible Investing.
Meanwhile, Kent has been appointed senior portfolio manager of NN IP’s Sustainable Equity funds. With 13 years of experience, he also joins from Allianz GI, where he held the role of senior portfolio manager for the global sustainable equity strategies. Kent will report to Schofield. They both had a seat on Allianz GI ESG committee and its Proxy Voting committee.
Lastly, Van Diepen has been appointed NN IP’s Head of the Sustainable and Equity analyst team, consisting of seven buy-side analysts and two data scientists. He will also take on the role of senior analyst on the FinTech and Financial Inclusion value chain and will report to Schofield. With over 12 years of experience in financial markets, Van Diepen joins the firm from Aberdeen Standard Investments where he held the role of Investment Director within the global equities team.
Furthermore, the team is adding 3 new members: Giovanna Petti, analyst of Environmental Solutions & Materials; Dirk-Jan Dirksen, analyst of Digital Transformation; and Jeff Meys, dedicated to Consumer Trends.
“We are very pleased to welcome 6 new members to our team. Paul, Jeremy and Pieter bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in equity investing and sustainability to NN IP and are fully aligned with our responsible investment philosophy”, said Jeroen Bos, Head of Specialised Equity & Responsible Investing at NN IP.
In his view, they are well-positioned to directly add value to their sustainable and impact equity investment processes, benefitting their clients. “These appointments clearly underline our ambition to maintain our leadership position in responsible investing, an area where we have a strong and longstanding heritage and where we will continue to invest”, he concluded.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Bloomberg y Rockefeller AM lanzan índice de mejora de ESG
Bloomberg and Rockefeller Asset Management announced the launch of the Bloomberg Rockefeller U.S. All Cap Multi-Factor ESG Improvers Index, available through the Bloomberg Terminal. The index combines Bloomberg’s renowned risk model, data, and index capabilities with 40 years of ESG expertise from Rockefeller AM.
Both firms pointed out in a press release that, unlike other ESG indices that emphasize screening around ESG leaders or laggards, this one ranks a company’s improvement in performance on material ESG issues relative to industry peers. It also combines the Rockefeller ESG Improvers ScoreTM, an uncorrelated and proprietary alpha enhancing factor, with quality and low volatility factors to pursue outperformance over traditional market-cap weighted indices with low tracking error and minimal sector or other factor deviations. They also stated that another distinctive aspect of the index is that it incorporates shareholder engagement techniques that help create shareholder value and catalyze positive change.
“We believe that investors will increasingly differentiate between ESG leaders and improvers – firms showing the greatest improvement in their ESG footprint. And that the latter offers a greater potential for generating uncorrelated alpha over the long-term,” said Casey Clark, Managing Director and Global Head of ESG Investments at Rockefeller Asset Management.
Meanwhile, Alan Campbell, Head of Index Product Management at Bloomberg, claimed that institutional investors are focusing now on underlying ESG factors and trends, so they are expanding their index offering to include ESG improvers. “Together with Rockefeller we are providing investors with a product that captures high quality and low volatility companies that exhibit positive ESG momentum.”
Lastly, Chip Montgomery, Managing Director and Head of Business Strategy & Corporate Development at Rockefeller AM highlighted that given Bloomberg’s history as a multi-asset index provider, and their experience in the ESG space, they “felt this was a natural partnership to bring ESG Improvers benchmarks to the market”.
Ignacio de la Maza, Janus Henderson Investors. Ignacio de la Maza, Janus Henderson Investors
Janus Henderson Investors is delighted to invite you to the first in a three-part series of virtual events for 2021, with the Invested in Connecting Fixed Income Forum taking place on Thursday 4 February.
2020 was a turbulent, uncertain and volatile year. As we enter 2021, the Fixed Income Forum aims to capture and review a range of perspectives through a thoughtful and dynamic analysis of market events.
The day will feature our Fixed Income specialists as they analyze dominant themes we see across global markets, the importance of ESG in the investment process, as well as how they expect to position their portfolios for the new year ahead.
With 100 minutes of live sessions as well as on-demand videos from our Portfolio Managers, we aim to offer you engaging and insightful updates from the team through HEDx talks, market outlooks and live debates. All content will also be available to watch on the platform for up to one month after the event.
Janus Henderson Investors is also pleased to offer simultaneous translation in French, German and Spanish during the live sessions.
If you would like to attend, you can register for this event at this link.
13:30 GMT | 14:30 CET |10:30 CLST | 08:30 EST – Virtual platform opens
14:00 GMT | 15:00 CET | 11:00 CLST | 09:00 EST- Welcome – Ignacio De La Maza, Head of EMEA Intermediary and LatAm
14:05 GMT | 15:05 CET |11:05 CLST | 09:05 EST – Market Outlook – Jim Cielinski, Global Head of Fixed Income
14:25 GMT | 15:25 CET |11:25 CLST | 09:25 EST – The Importance of ESG –Paul LaCoursiere, Global Head of ESG Investments
14:40 GMT | 15:40 CET |11:40 CLST | 09:40 EST – The ‘reflation trade’ — is 2021 the beginning or the end of the move – Jenna Barnard, Co-Head of Strategic Fixed Income –The consensus for the reflation trade has gained strong momentum in recent weeks, as bullish investors have rotated towards inflation protection since late last year, further boosted in January by the Democratic win in the US Senate, which is likely to lead to much larger fiscal stimulus over the next few months. Is the trend likely to persist? Jenna Barnard, Co-Head of Strategic Fixed Income will share her views on the subject.
14:55 GMT | 15:55 CET |11:55 CLST | 09:55 EST – Break
15:05 GMT | 16:05 CET | 12:05 CLST | 10:05 EST Trust – the most important commodity in finance – Nick Maroutsos, Head of Global Bonds – Bond markets revolve around trust. We lend money in the expectation that borrowers will repay us, with interest. In this HEDx talk, Nick Maroutsos, Head of Global Bonds, explores why trust is pivotal to the successful functioning of fixed income markets from the smallest borrower through to the broader macroeconomic system and why it is particularly pertinent in 2021.
15:20 GMT | 16:20 CET | 12:20 CLST | 10:20 EST – The Hunt for Yield – Fixed Income Panel Debate– Jennifer James, Emerging Market Debt, Tom Ross, Global / European High Yield, and John Pattullo, Co-Head of Strategic Fixed Income. Moderated by Lucy Hockings, BBC News Presenter.
15:50 GMT | 16:50 CET | 12:50 CLST | 10:50 EST – Conclusion and event close – Ignacio De La Maza, Head of EMEA Intermediary and LatAm
Foto cedidaMichaela Collet Jackson, directora de distribución para Europa, Oriente Medio y África de Columbia Threadneedle.. Columbia Threadneedle nombra a Michaela Collet Jackson directora de distribución para Europa, Oriente Medio y África
Columbia Threadneedle Investments has announced in a press release the appointment of Michaela Collet Jackson as Head of Distribution EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). Previously in BlackRock, she will take over her new role next March 22.
Collet will lead Columbia Threadneedle’s regional Sales and Client Service functions across Wholesale, Institutional and Insurance channels. Reporting to Nick Ring, CEO EMEA, she will join the firm’s regional leadership team and primary governance bodies.
“We look forward to Michaela joining Columbia Threadneedle to lead our UK, European and Middle East Sales teams and drive our distribution capability across client channels. Michaela is a results-focused leader who brings excellent experience in distribution strategy and execution, sales management and client relationship roles. She has an outstanding record of achieving growth through a highly effective combination of strategic direction, team leadership and client-focused organisational structure”, Ring said.
He also highlighted that Collet joins the asset manager at an “exciting time”, as they have consistently strong investment performance, a broad array of strategies across all major asset classes and experience creating bespoke solutions for their clients. “Under Michaela’s leadership we are well positioned to build deeper relationships, serve more clients and grow our EMEA franchise“, he added.
Michaela has over 18 years’ experience in the asset management industry in Europe. She joined Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in 2005 and later BlackRock in 2009 (when it acquired BGI), where she progressed through a number of distribution roles including iShares Business Development lead for international and private banks in the UK and Switzerland, Sales Director for the Nordic Institutional business, Head of Nordic Retail and Head of Solutions & Partnerships for EMEA Retail. In April 2020, she became Managing Director and Deputy COO for the EMEA Distribution business.
Foto cedida. Abbie Llewellyn-Waters, Rhys Petheram y Jon Wallace, nuevos cargos en Jupiter AM
Jupiter AM announced a number of senior appointments and changes within its sustainability suite, which also affect the Jupiter Global Ecology management team. In a press release, the asset manager pointed out that these decisions will allow them to continue to offer clients attractive returns through long-term sustainable investing.
In particular, the firm has named Abbie Llewellyn-Waters Head of Sustainable Investing, the fund manager Rhys Petheram has been promoted to Head of Environmental Solutions, and Jon Wallace has taken over the management of the Jupiter Global Ecology Growth Fund. Wallace will be replacing Charlie Thomas, Head of Strategy, Environment and Sustainability, who leaves after 20 years at the company.
“Drawing on Jupiter’s 30-year heritage of sustainable investing, this restructure and the series of appointments reinforce our commitment to this strategically important client proposition which we see as a cornerstone of our future business growth plans. We are pleased to be able to offer our clients a distinct choice of products, enabling them to achieve their sustainable investing goals in partnership with our dedicated and experienced team”, Andrew Formica, CEO, said.
She also claimed to be “delighted” to have Llewellyn-Waters and Petheram in these new roles where they will be “instrumental” in shaping, supporting and influencing the firmwide initiatives that they have been developing over the last year.
Meanwhile, Stephen Pearson, CIO, congratulated them on their new roles, created to drive forward Jupiter’s sustainability proposition, and paid tribute to departing manager Charlie Thomas: “Having taken on the management of Jupiter’s flagship Ecology unit trust fund nearly 20 years ago, he has become an important part of that fund’s long history and has made a strong mark at Jupiter and on the sector during his tenure. He has been a pleasure to work with and he leaves with our thanks for the valuable contribution he has made and our best wishes for the future”.
Three in-house professionals
With over 15 years of sustainable investment experience, Llewellyn-Waters will lead the firm’s sustainable investing capability, while also feeding into the work of Edward Bonham Carter, who has taken on a new role focusing on the company’s stewardship and corporate responsibility activities. As part of this, she will continue to play an important role in shaping best practice across the business in line with Jupiter’s commitment to ESG.
Meanwhile, Petheram is a recognised thought-leader in environmental fixed income investments with 20 years’ experience across fixed income and multi-asset portfolios. He has co-managed the Jupiter Global Ecology Diversified Fund since inception in 2016, delivering 27.5% relative to a sector average of 16.85% over this time.
In his new role, Petheram will work closely with Llewellyn-Waters, leading and evolving Jupiter’s expertise in investing in companies intentionally focused on providing solutions to sustainability challenges across key environmental themes. He will also oversee Jupiter’s environmental solutions range across asset classes, while continuing to co-manage the Jupiter Global Ecology Diversified fund.
Lastly, Jupiter AM highlighted that Wallace, who has worked closely with Thomas for over 10 years, has an in-depth knowledge of the portfolios and a strong expertise in seeking out the key innovators in the green technology space, making him “the natural successor” for this range. He will collaborate closely with Thomas to ensure a smooth transition of fund management responsibilities.
