Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. BNP Paribas manifiesta su intención por adquirir el 100% de Exane
FE fundinfo has announced in a statement the acquisition of the consulting and research house CSSP (Center for Social and Sustainable Products AG) to expand its ESG capabilities.
Specifically, the fund data and technology provider has acquired all of CSSP’s share capital, including its yourSRI.com platform which provides ESG screening and labels on thousands of funds. As part of the deal, CSSP founders Oliver Oehri and Christoph Dreher will co-head the ESG product group at FE fundinfo.
“At a time when ESG investing and reporting is rapidly becoming the major consideration for the investment industry, our acquisition of CSSP will enable us to expand upon our driving principle of connecting and supporting the global fund industry, through both a deep understanding of the market and the provision of clear, accurate and transparent data and reporting“, said Philipp Portmann, Head of Business Development & Strategy at FE fundinfo.
In his view, Oehri’s and Dreher’s vision of how important ESG investing will become, alongside their ambition to support investors to make better informed decisions, “clearly matches” their own.
The transaction will bring another important capability to FE fundinfo’s existing range of services, which help fund managers and distributors access accurate data and fulfill their regulatory obligations. The firm highlights that, as ESG due diligence requirements and reporting standards become more formalized in 2021, including the forthcoming introduction of the sustainable finance disclosure regulations (SFDR) across Europe from March 2021, they will continue to work with clients to meet these changes.
Meanwhile, Oehri and Dreher claimed to be “delighted” to be joining the FE fundinfo team at a pivotal moment in the evolution of ESG investing. “The reporting on extra-financial criteria has gained in importance in recent years and investors are rightfully asking for multi-dimensional risk assessments at portfolio level to effectively measure the corresponding exposure. Our services and bespoke solutions, that have been trusted by hundreds of clients, provide a holistic overview of the ESG profile”, they added.
Foto cedidaGuy Wagner, director general de BLI.. Banque de Luxembourg unifica sus unidades de gestión de activos
BLI – Banque de Luxembourg Investments, the asset manager of Banque de Luxembourg, and Conventum Asset Management, fund management company for third-party fund initiators and also subsidiary of the bank, have announced in a press release that they are combining their activities with effect from 1 January 2021.
This operation means that BLI will manage the 60 employees that constitute the workforce of the two entities, under the leadership of Guy Wagner, its Managing Director. Services to third-party fund initiators will be offered by BLI under the Conventum TPS (Third Party Solutions) brand.
“The merger of the two companies will enable us to enhance our expertise as a portfolio management company and provider of services for third-party funds, and share the necessary investments to strengthen our operational, technical and control systems,” explained Wagner.
The asset manager pointed out that this merger will strengthen its positioning by “capitalizing on the combined skills, expertise and systems of Conventum Asset Management and BLI”. It also revealed that their ambition is to continue to develop a full range of offers within two key business lines: portfolio management services and investment fund management company services for third-party initiators.
Michèle Biel, Director of Conventum Asset Management, highlighted that by pooling the resources of both companies, the new entity will enable them to combine their respective expertise in the best interests of or current and future clients. “The teams’ formidable experience will be the foundation for the development of our business in a constantly-evolving market and regulatory environment”, she added.
The surge in demand for thematic funds in Europe last year is set to continue, according to the latest research of Cerulli Associates “The Cerulli Edge—Global Edition”. This demand will specially grow in 2021 and 2022 in those strategies focused on water, biotechnology, and technology.
Net flows into sector-themed equity products during the first 10 months of 2020 amounted to 89 billion euros (108 billion dollars), more than triple the net sales for 2019. Meanwhile, assets under management amounted to 512.4 billion euros at the close of October 2020.
“The consensus of managers operating in Europe is that broad themes relating to technology and sustainability will prevail in the aftermath of COVID-19 and longer term,” says Fabrizio Zumbo, associate director, European asset and wealth management research at Cerulli.
Some 84% of the ETF issuers in Europe that responded to the survey expect “significant or moderate demand” for thematic ETFs in the next 12 to 24 months. Over the first 10 months of 2020, technology-related themes were the most popular, attracting 28 billion euros or 32% of net inflows, followed by healthcare at 15%, and renewable energy or climate change at 12%.
Sustainability and technology first
Cerulli’s research shows that ETF issuers in Europe expect growth in demand over 2021 and 2022 to be strongest for sustainability-related themessuch as water and biotechnology, closely followed by technology. Almost all the managers that responded to the survey (92%) expect demand for water-themed ETFs to increase over the next two years. Combined active and passive assets in the water-themed sector have achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% over the past five years.
The firm believes that asset managers can source new opportunities from working closely with technical experts in fields such as biotechnology and healthcare to ensure that specialist funds are able to capitalize on areas of potential growth.
“Technology themes, which include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and 5G networks, are expected to continue to attract high demand, in part due to the success of mass remote working, which is likely to continue to an extent post-pandemic. Some 84% of our survey respondents believe that technology-themed ETFs will experience an increase in demand in the next 12 to 18 months,” said Zumbo.
In his view, investors are becoming more comfortable with using thematic ETFs for diversification and to express their investment objectives: “a reflection of how the product set is evolving”, he points out. In addition, several asset managers interviewed by Cerulli in Europe highlighted that thematic funds are generally easier to sell to end clients because the attached compelling narratives make the products easier to understand.
This year will see major changes that will be highly supportive of the green bond market in Europe: the European Union’s Green Bond Standard will be published, the EU will issue green bonds for an estimated amount of 225 billion euros and several governments will start issuing this asset class. As such, NN Investment Partners estimates in a press release that the global green bond market will grow by 300 billion euros in 2021 to 1 trillion.
The asset manager believes that the EU Taxonomy and the Green Bond Standard will be the first driver of the green bond market surge in 2021, stemming from the EU’s Sustainable Action Plan to finance sustainable economic growth. In its view, the standard and the finalization of the first version of the new taxonomy will have “a long-term positive impact on the integrity and transparency of the EU green bond market and will act as the blueprint for regulation in other regions”, because it will:
Further standardize and professionalize the rapidly maturing green bond market
Raise knowledge levels on whether economic activities are environmentally friendly and how they can transition to become more sustainable
Give investors an increasingly detailed overview of what they are investing in, enabling them to make better-informed choices
Give issuers more guidance how to identify green assets or activities
Therefore, the firm believes that this legislation could be regarded as “a catalyst for the global green bond market growth”, encouraging lagging sectors such as industrials to come forward with a green bond issuance. Currently, the market is dominated by financials, utilities and government-related issuers.
“These new regulations herald what could be a watershed decade for climate change mitigation, with Europe leading the way via its target to be carbon-neutral by 2050. ESG and green finance are really entering the mainstream. The pandemic has created a positive boost too, as a lot of countries clearly need more funding, and with green ambitions stronger than ever the green bond market will be widely viewed as a major opportunity”, says Jovita Razauskaite, portfolio manager for green bonds at NN IP.
Additionally, the asset manager expects the green bond market developments will be spurred by several countries that plan to issue their inaugural green bonds in 2021, including Italy, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Ukraine and Slovenia. Also, repeated issuers such as the Netherlands, France and Germany will come back to the market with an ambition to tackle climate change. “All in all, the pipeline of government green issuances is extensive and significantly larger than in previous years”, they pointed out.
Finally, the issuance of new Next Generation EU-Bonds (NGEU), of which EUR 225 billion is dedicated to environmental projects between 2021 and 2023, will significantly enlarge the supranational share of the global green bond universe. “The EU is likely to start issuing these bonds in Q2 2021 to support the national recovery and resilience plans of member countries”, highlighted NN IP.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Morningstar Indexes lanza un nuevo índice de género para mercados desarrollados
Morningstar announced the launch of the Morningstar® Developed Markets ex-Japan Gender Diversity Index℠, designed to provide exposure to developed market companies exhibiting strong gender diversity policy and practices.
In a press release, the firm pointed out that investor demand for ESG has increased drastically in the last decade, driving the need for these types of indexes. In this case, it will be powered by the data and scoring methodology of Equileap, a global provider of data and insights on gender equality for investors. More specifically, the constituents of the new index are weighted according to 19 gender equality criteria, including gender balance across the workforce, the gender pay gap, paid parental leave, and anti-sexual harassment policies.
The Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund with approximately 1.5 trillion dollars in assets under management as of June 2020, has adopted the index as its benchmark to invest.
“During a tumultuous year consumed by a global health and economic crisis in which research shows working women pay a disproportional toll, transparent practices and policies that advance gender representation should be top of mind for companies. We are thrilled to be working with Equileap and GPIF on a meaningful endeavor that we believe will have the potential to not only act as a catalyst to shape corporate behavior but also help investors achieve their financial goals”, said Ron Bundy, president of Morningstar Indexes.
This launch is in line with the white paper published by Morningstar and Equileap “Investing Inclusively: Building Shareholder Value Through Gender Diversity.” The report highlights that companies that foster gender diversity and create inclusive cultures are tapping into the potential of the full population and are positioned to benefit from the effects of cognitive diversity. In this sense, “they are not only advancing the cause of human rights but also have the potential to maximize shareholder value”.
The index is derived from the Morningstar Developed Markets ex-Japan Large-Mid Index, which includes large and mid-capitalization equities from the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Israel, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore. “In addition to providing a similar risk/return profile to the broad market, it is built to provide exposure to publicly traded companies with strong gender diversity policies embedded in their corporate culture and that ensure equal opportunities to employees, irrespective of their gender”, Morningstar concluded.
Banco Santander’s board of directors has resolved to name Gina Díez Barroso as a new independent director after Rodrigo Echenique‘s departure, announced the bank in a press release. The board has also agreed to appoint Alejandro Butti as the new CEO and country head of Santander Argentina.
Díez Barroso is a Mexican entrepreneur, founder and president of Diarq Group, an architecture and design company that carries out real estate projects in Mexico and the United States. She has career of more than 20 years in the real estate and education sectors, in addition to the experience she acquired in banking as an independent director of Banco Santander Mexico. She is also the founder and president of Universidad Centro, Mexico City’s first university specializing in creative studies.
With this appointment, which will be submitted for ratification at the next general shareholders’ meeting of Santander, Díez Barroso will fill the vacancy left by Rodrigo Echenique, who will step down from his role as director after 32 years at the Santander Group. He also left his executive positions as vice chairman of the bank and chairman of Santander Spain in May 2019.
“Gina Díez Barroso has vast knowledge of the US and Mexico, two of the group’s most important markets. She will also add additional expertise in areas such as real state, banking, education, and sustainable business. Her arrival means 40% of our board will be women”, said the bank’s executive chairman, Ana Botín.
She also highlighted the “privilege and honor” it has been to work with Echenique. “He has been pivotal to the growth and success of Banco Santander over the last 30 years, from the launch of the Supercuenta in 1989 to the recent acquisition of Banco Popular”, she added.
With the addition Díez Barroso, the board of directors of Santander will continue to be made up of 15 members, 10 of whom are independent directors.
New country head for Argentina
The board has also agreed to appoint Alejandro Butti as the new CEO and country head of Santander Argentina, subject to regulatory approvals. He will report to Head of South America, Sergio Rial. Butti, who has been with Grupo Santander for over 25 years, is a member of Santander Argentina’s executive committee and, until now, headed Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) in Argentina.
“Sergio Lew, who has played an important role in driving Santander Argentina’s growth in the last two and a half years, will return to the CIB business in the United States, where he has spent a large part of his professional career and collaborated to implement a global service model with a focus on Latin America. He will remain as country head of Santander Argentina until 31 March 2021 to ensure a smooth transition”, revealed the bank in the press release.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. El departamento Federal de Finanzas de Suiza (FDF) levanta las restricciones al Reino Unido
Polar Capital has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Dalton Capital, the parent company of Dalton Strategic Partnership, for 15.6 million pounds (around 20.85 million dollars). This UK based boutique asset manager had 1.24 billion pounds (1.68 million dollars) in assets under management as at 15 December 2020.
In a press release, Polar Capital stated that the acquisition has “a strong strategic rationale” with its growth and diversification strategy and adds “a leading European investment team” to its existing European Income team. It also provides the group with broader wholesale and institutional distribution into Europe, particularly in the German market.
The deal excludes the Velox Fund, which is on the Dalton platform, but includes the Melchior European Opportunities Fund and the existing Luxembourg SICAV umbrella which will aid the group’s product range for international distribution.
The transaction reaches 15.6 million pounds split between the initial consideration of 8.3 million of which 7.8 million will be paid in cash from Polar Capital’s existing resources and half a million pounds in Polar Capital shares. Afterwards, there will be a deferred cash consideration of 7.3 million pounds, payable 12 months after completion, with the amount being linked to the value of assets under management at the time.
A strategic fit for 2021
“The acquisition of Dalton Strategic Partnership is further delivery of our growth and diversification strategy and is an excellent strategic, geographic and cultural fit with our existing business. It delivers greater scale, new capabilities and an expanded distribution reach in Europe, as well as highly experienced investment teams with a good track record. This acquisition will also provide Polar Capital with its first Luxembourg SICAV”, said Gavin Rochussen, CEO of Polar Capital.
Meanwhile, Nick Mottram, CEO at Dalton, claimed to be “delighted” to be joining the group and pointed out that they have long been impressed by their strong client focus, proposition and growth aspirations. “It is a good cultural fit for us and that was important when we were looking to join a larger group, as we wanted to ensure we retained investment autonomy over our funds”, he commented.
Also, he pointed out that the managers of their two key investment strategies, David Robinson and Leonard Charlton, are “committed and enthusiastic” about the acquisition and the opportunity it will provide “to further develop their investment propositions to the benefit of their investors”.
The transaction is expected to complete in Q1 2021 with a transition of the DSP business onto the Polar Capital platform during Q2 2021.
Has it all worked out for you? Wake up, take stock, be honest.
Are you a gambler? Do you own real estate funds with office and hotel portfolios that were exposed to the Covid-19 lockdowns? Too bad. Do you own private equity funds that use leverage exceeding 7x cashflows for companies struggling during this crisis? Too bad. Are you invested in early-stage venture backed companies with no sure path to liquidity? Too bad! It really is too bad when investors gamble with risk.
The Covid-19 crisis exposed risk most investors never anticipated in owning leveraged office and hotel portfolios that will take years to recover, if they survive the financial pressures imposed by the crisis. Most investors never anticipated that their highly leveraged portfolio companies would see their revenues disappear during such a time. Investors never imagined that early-stage venture backed companies they liked would be scrambling for cash to survive over the last 12 months.
Conversely, those investors who cared about risk management and chose strategies that minimized use of leverage are feeling much more secure and hopeful. While GDP driven investment themes are cyclical and struggle during recessions, downturns, and global pandemics, we advised our clients to ignore temptations and instead commit to disciplined managers who create real value, avoiding unnecessary risk.
Over the last two years, we shared the following with our clients and these themes have served them well. Why? Because all of them have one thing in common. That is, they are all strategies that consider risk first and are mitigated.
Do you think proven, innovative biotech treatments will lead us to revolutionary outcomes? We do.
Do you think demographically driven real estate opportunities present less cyclical risk? We do.
Do you think proven pre-IPO growth companies have a chance to capture value that leveraged buyout transactions can’t? We do.
Do you think niche, sector specific, high quality private credit without much competition deserves our attention? We do.
Do you think a highly disruptive alternative to secondary liquidity providers deserve investment? We do.
Do you think owning minority stakes in a portfolio of large and growing private investment management firms is a good thing? We do.
So, we hope it has worked out for you! We hope you discovered a better way to invest in private investment funds by thoroughly understanding their risk profiles and choosing lower risk options. How many more shocks do we need to experience before we wake up and start taking risk considerations more seriously? Hopefully we are all aware now of how to invest by paying more attention to underlying risk because 2020 has been a needed wake up call for many private equity investors.
Column by Alex Gregory, founder of Better Way, LLC
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainAntoine Onfray, nuevo director financiero de Tikehau Capital.. Antoine Onfray, nombrado director financiero de Tikehau Capital
Tikehau Capital, the alternative asset management and investment group, has announced in a press release the appointment of Antoine Onfray as Chief Financial Officer. In this position, he will be responsible for developing and implementing the group’s financial strategy and will report to Henri Marcoux, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the firm.
Onfray began his career in 2007 in the General Inspection department of Société Générale. Between 2010 and 2016, he was Head of Financing and Treasury and Head of Investor Relations at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and he was then named Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Eurosic. Prior to joining Tikehau Capital, Onfray was Group Deputy CEO of Paref, a listed real estate group, where he arrived at 2017 as Chief Financial Officer.
“We are delighted to welcome Antoine, who brings a wealth of expertise in the financial function of listed groups. He will be a major asset in the growth dynamic of Tikehau Capital, whose solid financial structure with 2.8 billion euros shareholders’ equity, contributes directly to the achievement of the Group’s strategic objectives,” said Henri Marcoux, Deputy CEO of Tikehau Capital.
Foto cedidaAdrie Heinsbroek, director de sostenibilidad de NN Investment Partners.. NN Investment Partners nombra a Adrie Heinsbroek director de sostenibilidad
NN Investment Partners (NN IP) has announced in a press release the appointment of Adrie Heinsbroek as Chief Sustainability Officer, as of 1 January 2021. In this newly created role he will advise the Board on sustainability matters and challenges, and their implications for the entire organization.
Heinsbroek will be responsible for bringing external developments that shape the operational surroundings and society, such as increased regulations and climate change, directly to the Board. He will also advise on NN IP’s own footprint and the further implementation of its responsible investing approach in its strategies. He will continue to report to Arnoud Diemers, Head of Innovation and Responsible Investing Platform, and will additionally take on a direct advisory role to Satish Bapat, CEO of NN IP.
The asset manager believes that Heinsbroek will help them remain “at the forefront of global sustainability and ESG developments”. In their view, his appointment enables NN IP to leverage on his knowledge and experience whilst setting priorities and make decisions for the future.
“As a responsible investor, we aim to improve both our clients’ returns and the world we live in. We do this by looking beyond financial performance, because the people we work for and with, represent more than just the investments we manage. The announcement illustrates our strong commitment as a responsible investor”, said Satish Bapat.
Heinsbroek joined NN IP in February 2017 as Principal Responsible Investment and has over 20 years of experience in the field of sustainability and ESG integration.
