Sotheby´s nombra directora de Trusts & Estates and Valuations a Mari-Claudia Jiménez - Foto cedida. Sotheby´s nombra directora de Trusts & Estates and Valuations a Mari-Claudia Jiménez
Sotheby’s has announced that Mari-Claudia Jiménez will join Sotheby’s this September. Based in New York, Jiménez will lead Sotheby’s Trust & Estates and Valuations efforts as Managing Director.
As a Partner at Herrick Feinstein LLP – which has one of the world’s most prominent art and cultural property law practices, which she joined in 2004 – Jiménez has been involved in an impressive number of major acquisitions, consignments and cases, working with a wide range of clients including prominent museums, galleries, estates, top collectors and auction houses.
Some of Mari-Claudia Jiménez’s notable public cases include: in 2006, she and Herrick Feinstein LLP represented Neue Galerie New York in its acquisition of Gustav Klimt’s Adele Block-Bauer I, one of the artist’s greatest achievements and now a crown jewel of the museum’s collection. The heirs of Kazimir Malevich have been long-term clients of Mari-Claudia Jiménez, working together on the restitution and subsequent sales of five paintings by the artist that included Suprematist Composition, which set the current auction record for the artist at Sotheby’s New York in 2008 with a final price of $60 million. Jiménez was also a key player in the sale of the estate of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody at Christie’s New York in 2010. The collection included hundreds of items across multiple categories and was led by Pablo Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a then-record price for any work of art at auction.
Mari-Claudia Jiménez said: “I am honored to be joining Sotheby’s vibrant business. Over the last 12 years, I have worked alongside high-profile estates and collectors in the art world as they consigned and purchased at auction and private sale. I am excited to bring to Sotheby’s my perspective on what works best for clients, and to contribute to their experience collecting and selling at all levels.”
Hugh Hildesley, Vice Chairman of Sotheby’s Americas, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Mari-Claudia to Sotheby’s, where she will join esteemed colleagues in our Trust & Estate and Valuations teams. Her impeccable credentials and wealth of knowledge in the world of art law will be major assets to the business, which continues to grow.”
Since joining Herrick Feinstein LLP in 2004, Mari-Claudia Jiménez has been an integral member of the Art Law Group. While building relationships over the course of weeks, months and years, she counseled her clients on transactions, advised on the maintenance of collections, and managed litigations. In addition to guiding private and institutional clients on consignments and purchases, arranging for loans at museums and galleries, and organizing the logistics required in between, Jiménez has also played an important role in domestic and international claims; she had particularly noteworthy success in cases relating to the restitution of art looted in Europe and in Cuba, to which she maintains a strong connection through her Cuban-Spanish heritage.
Mari-Claudia Jiménez is a graduate of Fordham University Law School and Fordham University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Prior to attending law and graduate school, Jiménez studied Art History at Williams College, and continues to support her alma mater as a board member of its Museum of Art Visiting Committee.
Foto: Debs (ò‿ó)♪
. ¿Es el retainer el próximo método de compensación?
As the profession of financial planning has evolved from an industry focused on product sales to providing and implementing a client’s financial plan, compensation models have also shifted from a transaction-based model of compensation. Authors Ken Robinson and Jacob Kuebler through the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners explore how financial planning services and compensation continue to evolve in their White Paper “The Financial Planners’ Retainer: A Reflection of Real Value”, published in September.
The predominant method of compensation that has emerged has been the Assets Under Managements (AUM) model, says the document. While there are many advantages to this model, there is no reason to believe it is the ultimate evolutionary development in fee-only compensation. Limited markets, increasing competition, and regulatory concerns have contributed to some advisors’ interest in other fee-only compensation models.
Just as important, disconnects often exist between the value added for clients and the effort required by the advisor to deliver services. Service models have continued to evolve to include the emergence of new values added beyond maximizing economic value. These include attention to the client’s life values, behavior, and how those characteristics affect their financial well-being.
Therefore, the profession is in need of a fee model that represents these new value-added services. The authors present the retainer as a potential solution.
The retainer is a value-based system that increases compatibility with newer service models and aligns the advisor-client relationship, specifically with new fiduciary standards. Further advantages of the retainer model include resistance to commoditization, the ability to provide service profitably to a much broader market,
and adaptability to a wide variety of services the advisor may wish to make available. Not being tied exclusively to the value of assets managed, the retainer removes the implied (and erroneous) understanding that investment management is the sole service of value being provided in a planning relationship.
The work explains there are potential disadvantages to the retainer model. These include saliency of the fee payment, and limitation of the client’s ability to make apples-to-apples comparisons between different advisors’ fees and the benefits offered. Additionally, there is some risk that the advisor will perform less work than he should, or will spend more time than is profitable, when the fee is fixed at the outset. Each of these risks can be mitigated successfully so the retainer model of fee-only compensation can provide the advisor a competitive and financially successful professional practice.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards recently announced that there are more than 75,000 active Certified Financial Planner professionals – a historic milestone that marks the highest number of CFP professionals ever serving the public’s need for competent and ethical financial planning.
“Over the years, more and more financial professionals have recognized the tremendous value that the certification holds in advancing their careers and giving them the credibility and expertise needed to help consumers plan for the future,” said CFP Board Chief Executive Officer Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “We are especially proud that our relatively young profession has surpassed 75,000 active CFP professionals. Our efforts to increase access to CFP professionals will only continue as we carry out our mission to benefit the public through certifying individuals who deliver the highest standard of financial planning.”
The first group of financial planning professionals attained CFP certification in 1973 following completion of a Certified Financial Planners (CFP) course at the College for Financial Planning. In 1985, the College entered an agreement to establish an independent, non-profit certifying and standards-setting organization, and transferred ownership of the CFP® marks and responsibility for continuing the CFP® certification program to the new organization, which eventually became known as CFP Board. The total number of CFP® professionals has grown steadily since then. Since 2007, the number of CFP professionals has grown more than 35 percent. As of August 31st, there are 75,467 CFP professionals in the United States.
Gigi Guerra, recent CFP of Miami says: “Helping our profession by being part of a class that moved us past the 75,000th CFP professional is a true honor. This achievement has boosted my confidence as a young Millennial woman who is just entering the workforce,” said Guerra. “It’s an exciting time for CFP Board, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it and our profession, helping people achieve their dreams through financial planning.”
The need for recruiting CFP professionals to the profession has never been stronger as it continues to experience growth trends in hiring, retirement and succession planning.
“As we celebrate this significant milestone, we look forward to the next generation of CFP professionals with the hope that it will be even better positioned to serve the American public by being more representative of the population it serves,” said CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Executive Director Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis. “With the recent launch of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning – which is working to advance a more diverse and sustainable profession.”
To learn more about CFP Board or becoming a CFP professional follow this link.
Foto: WerbeFabrik. Aberdeen fusiona 10 fondos dentro de su gama de renta fija global
Aberdeen Asset Management is to merge a series of offshore funds based within its global fixed income range.
A spokesperson for Aberdeen confirmed to International Investment that it is to merge together ten of its funds, eight based in Luxembourg and two based in Dublin and trim the global fixed income range down to five funds overall.
As a result of the mergers the company will now domicile all of the funds affected from its Luxembourg headquarters.
Of the Luxembourg-domiciled mergers; the US$14m Aberdeen Global II – Emerging Europe Bond fund is merging into the US$168m Aberdeen Global – Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond fund, the £40m Aberdeen Global – Select High Yield Bond fund into the €1bn Aberdeen Global – Select Euro High Yield Bond fund and the €38m Aberdeen Global II – Euro High Yield Bond fund is merging into €1bn Aberdeen Global – Select Euro High Yield Bond fund.
Luxembourg-domiciled
With the firms Dublin-domiciled range, the £116m Select International Bond fund will be merged into the Luxembourg-domiciled €1bn Aberdeen Global – Select Euro High Yield Bond. The Dublin-domiciled £35m Select Global Sovereign Bond fund will also be merged into the Luxembourg-domiciled $1.6bn Aberdeen Global – Select Emerging Markets Bond fund.
Confirming the move, Aberdeen Asset Management spokesperson said: “The mergers are part of a project to rationalise Aberdeen’s fixed income fund range”. Investors in the affected funds have been notified of the company’s plans.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: XOques. Cambio en las variables de predicción
Net New Assets (NNA) during this month amounted to EUR 4.7 billion, still 21% above the one-year monthly average level. Total assets under management are up 7% vs. the end of 2015, reaching EUR 481 billion, including a slight rise in the market (+3.9%). Emerging Market and investment grade corporate bond ETFs gathered most in this environment of heightened uncertainty.
Equity ETF inflowswere significant at EUR 2.1 billion, continuing the trend of the last two months. On developed markets, flows were limited at EUR 339 million. Positive news in the US economic data helped sustain strong inflows of EUR 1.2 billion. However, in Europe the less positive economic data prompted outflows of EUR 1.1 billion from European ETFs. Emerging Market equity ETFs continued their rebound with inflows of EUR 1.5 billion. Flows were focused on broad index exposures, which would suggest that investors were taking a tactical position ahead of the FED’s decision on rates. Smart Beta ETF flows lost momentum, gaining just EUR 435 million in new assets after hitting a one-year record high in July. This month, Smart Beta investors favoured dividend and factor allocation products over minimum variance ETFs in their search for yield and alternative sources of return.
Fixed income ETF inflowsalmost halved in August to EUR 2.7 billion compared to July, close to their one-year monthly average. On developed countries, flows were mainly focused towards investment grade corporate bond ETFs, which saw EUR 1.4 billion of new assets following sustained ECB action. Emerging Market Debt continued to see some inflows of EUR 833 million although at a slower pace than the one-year record high reached in July of EUR 2 billion, which was fueled by the very low/zero interest rate environment and investors’ hunt for yield. The rebound in High yield Bond ETFs of July was short lived with EUR 62 million of outflows in August. Interestingly, flows on inflation-linked ETFs reached a one-year record high with inflows of EUR 546 million. Flows here were mainly on US exposures as economic growth seems to accelerate.
Commodity ETF flowshalted with EUR 76 million of outflows, which compares to the one-year record high of EUR 1.1 billion reached in July.
Italian group Banca Finnat Euramerica has launched a new Luxembourg-based asset management branch called Natam Management Company.
The subsidiary has received a “dual permission” from Luxembourg market authorities.
Banca Finnat said the Natam project was aimed at serving internal as well as external clients such as third-party intermediaries and institutional investors.
The company runs the New Millenium Sicav launched in the 90’s that comprises 14 sub-funds
Banca Finnat’s deputy general manager and president of the group’s Sicavs Alberto Alfiero has been appointed president of Natam.
Sante Jannoni, a lawyer specialising in Italian and Luxembourg financial law and senior management member of a number of professional and financial entities in Luxembourg, will serve as the company’s CEO.
Invesco PowerShares, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), part of Invesco, has listed the PowerShares US High Yield Fallen Angels UCITS ETF on London Stock Exchange, and on additional European stock exchanges.
The PowerShares US High Yield Fallen Angels UCITS ETF tracks the Citi Time-Weighted US Fallen Angel Bond Select Index, which is based on the Citi US High-Yield Market Index, with the same composition requirements around credit quality, maturity, and issue size. Bonds must have a minimum rating of C by S&P and Ca by Moody’s, and a maximum rating of BB+ by S&P and Ba1 by Moody’s to be eligible.
“Fallen angels” bonds which were previously rated investment-grade but were subsequently downgraded to high-yield are eligible for inclusion in the index and will be held in the index for a period of 60 months from inclusion provided they continue to meet the inclusion criteria. If a bond exits and then re-enters the index, the inclusion period would reset.
Bryon Lake, Head of Invesco PowerShares – EMEA, says: “With the ‘fallen angel’ phenomenon there are two things going on that are pushing the bond price down. First leading up to the downgrade you tend to see prices begin to drop as investors position themselves for the downgrade. Secondly, after the downgrade there are large asset owners, usually institutional in nature, that are forced to sell what were investment grade bonds but are now high yield due to their strict mandated rules. This forced selling creates a phenomenon where the bond can become oversold, which creates an opportunity to buy the bonds at their existing market value. This overselling – more often than not – is followed by a rebound in the bonds prices, potentially creating a unique opportunity and in a number of instances the bond even returns to investment grade.”
Lake continues: “In addition, because Invesco PowerShares is focused on being a leader in the smart beta space, there is a design element to the index that differentiates this ETF from other such investments. By using a time-weighted methodology the index emphasises the bonds that were most recently downgraded, which is logical in the context of a ‘fallen angel’ strategy vs say market cap weighting, and also could enhance the return of the ETF by more acutely capturing the ‘fallen angel’ phenomenon.”
Unlike traditional indices, where constituent weights are based on market value, the Citi Time-Weighted US Fallen Angel Bond Select Index aims to capture the price dynamics over the potential rebound period by using a time-weighting function that allocates higher weights to bonds that have more recently become ”fallen angels.” Issuers’ weights are capped at 5% and constituents’ time-based weights are capped at five times their respective market value-based weights to help manage concentration risk.
Arom Pathammavong, Global Head of Citi Fixed Income Indices, commented: “Leveraging insights from Citi’s research teams, we continue to expand our family of indices in order to offer market participants unique opportunities to meet diversification needs and further enhance their portfolios. For the Citi Time-Weighted US Fallen Angel Bond Select Index, we examined the price movements of fallen angel bonds which showed that prices of these bonds tend to recover from the dip of the downgrade over a 30-60 month period. The index will hold these fallen angel bonds for up to 60 months while applying an innovative time-based weighting methodology that aims to capture the price rebound effect of these bonds.”
The ETF has also been listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, the Borsa Italiana, the Deutsche Börse, the Euronext Paris, and the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The members of the European Parliament, with a 602 votes to 4, and 12 abstentions, have rejected draft regulatory technical standards aiming to provide a framework to packaged retail investment and insurance-based products (Priips). According to them, the draft regulation, is so “flawed and misleading” it could make retail investors losing money instead of protecting them.
The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) stated in a press release that they welcome today’s adoption of the European Parliament Motion for a Resolution on the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 on key information documents for PRIIPs, which:
objects to the Commission delegated regulation
calls for a postponement of the application date of the PRIIPs Regulation
EFAMA firmly believes that the PRIIPs KID is a powerful instrument to ensure that consumers receive the right information before making their investment choices. Asset managers know how important it is that investors and their advisers are given meaningful, comprehensible and comparable information to make sound investment decisions. It is therefore crucial to get the PRIIP KID right the first time around to ensure consumers find it helpful before making their investment choices.
Asset managers have long argued that the draft RTSs, as endorsed by the European Commission, will not achieve the intended objective to make the KID helpful to consumers. They will at best confuse investors, at worst mislead them.
The European asset management industry is absolutely convinced that the RTSs must be amended in a satisfactory way to serve their purpose for consumers. They need to be amended to solve flaws – and the key ones are allowing past performance so the investor can see if the asset manager has met its objectives in the past, and fixing the inaccurate calculation methodology of transaction costs. Investors must have the basic facts of what their investment will bring in terms of risks and costs. This is fundamental in terms of trust and confidence from consumers.
“We trust today’s adoption will result in amended RTSs that will help and inform consumers. The current draft RTSs do not.” EFAMA said.
Peter De Proft, EFAMA Director General, commented: “We want to be crystal clear. EFAMA would not like to reopen discussions on the PRIIPs Level 1 Regulation, save for a postponement of the Regulation’s application date. What is crucial now is to get the Level 2 right – and this means appropriately amending the draft RTSs, while leaving untouched the letter and spirit of the Level 1 Regulation.”
But timing is of essence, and EFAMA has also welcomed the EP’s call to the EC to consider a delay in the applicate date of the PRIIPs Regulation.
Alexander Schindler, EFAMA President, commented: “Market operators will apply the rules and want to do so appropriately. This is our wish and our intention. However, legal unclarities and flaws in the rules do not make this objective feasible. The premise to do this is to know the final rules, and to have sufficient time to implement them. There is only one reason why we find a delay absolutely essential, and this is because it is materially impossible and simply unrealistic for product manufacturers and distributors to meet the 31 December 2016 deadline. We would suggest a delay of 12 months. We urge the Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities to follow suit to today’s call from the European Parliament and begin the process of amending the RTSs, and we trust they will consider the concerns of investors and asset managers”.
Foto: Cory M. Grenier
. UBS y Rent The Runway Foundation lanzan una iniciativa para incrementar el número de mujeres emprendedoras de alto impacto y crecimiento
Rent the Runway Foundation and UBS recently announced the second year of Project Entrepreneur, a venture competition and educational program designed to provide women entrepreneurs nationwide with the tools to build high-growth, high-impact businesses.
“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with UBS to give women with big dreams the tools they need to create high-growth companies,” said Jennifer Hyman, CEO and Co-founder of Rent the Runway. “We were so inspired by last year’s Project Entrepreneur participants and the incredible momentum the three winning companies have experienced since completing the accelerator program. We can’t wait to give more incredible women-founded companies the resources they need to scale and achieve high impact.”
Project Entrepreneur’s venture competition is open to women entrepreneurs who intend to build high-growth businesses that are in the prototype or beta stages, or that may have their first paying customers. The top 200 applicants in the competition will be invited to attend the two-day PE Weekend Intensive in New York City on April 7th and 8th, where they will receive targeted support for their companies. The weekend will culminate in a live pitch competition where 12 finalists present to a judging panel of successful entrepreneurs and investors. Three winning teams will receive a cash prize of $10,000 each and a spot in a five-week accelerator program hosted at Rent the Runway’s New York office.
“Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind job creation and economic growth in this country,” said Lori Feinsilver, Head of Community Affairs, UBS Americas. “And yet women remain underrepresented in the founder landscape. Our goal this year is to continue leveling the playing field for all innovators so that everyone has the opportunity to realize the impact of their work.”
In select markets, Project Entrepreneur will also offer free educational summits at which attendees will be able to workshop their business ideas with successful, entrepreneurial women and hear from Rent the Runway co-founders, Jennifer Hyman and Jenny Fleiss, Melissa Ben-Ishay of Baked by Melissa, Rachel Sklar of TheLi.st, and Shan-Lyn Ma of Zola, among many other leaders and experts.
Registration for these summits will be available at projectentrepreneur.org. Summits will take place as follows:
Custom House Global Fund Services, a leading independent hedge fund administration specialist, has expanded its presence in China with the official opening of a Shanghai office. In addition, the firm has hired Sunny Huang as a Relationship Manager who will be responsible for new business development and the collaboration between clients and the firm.
“Our continued growth in China supports investor’s desire to gain immediate access to a financial services centre perfectly suited to meet the demands of those who are looking to venture into the global financial markets,” said Mark Hedderman, CEO, Custom House Global Fund Services. “With a considerable amount of wealth generated in China over the recent years, investors are looking to diversifying into global investment opportunities, amid concerns of future lower domestic growth and threat of potential currency devaluation.”
“We are excited about the opening of our new office and having Mrs. Huang on board to strengthen our partnership with our valued clients and provide a local presence for quality fund administration solutions to clients in the Shanghai region managing offshore funds,” said Tony Kan, Managing Director of Custom House Fund Services Hong Kong Ltd.
“Harvest Wealth Management has been working with Custom House since May 2015. In the past year, Custom House helped set up our overseas investment platform in the Cayman Islands and acted as the fund administrator for five funds launched on the platform. The efficiency, resourcefulness and client focused professionalism they have demonstrated are truly superb and beyond our expectations. Custom House has become one of our go-to partners when conducting our business overseas,” said Thomas Huang, Deputy CEO of Harvest Wealth Management. Harvest Wealth Management Limited is the subsidiary of Harvest Fund Management Limited. Both companies are regulated by China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Before joining Custom House, Huang was a client advisor assistant at UBS AG in Hong Kong where she was responsible for the day-to-day administration of onboarding clients and providing updates on their portfolios. Huang holds a Master of Finance (Investment Management) from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, PolyU and a Bachelor of Economics from East China Normal University in Shanghai. She will report to Allen Li, Director of the Hong Kong office.