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Matthew Elderfield, to Become New Head of Group Compliance at Nordea

50 year old Matthew Elderfield has been appointed Head of Group Compliance and a member of Group Executive Management at Nordea. He will join the company by November, 9th, 2016 at the latest.

“We have set an ambitious target to be best in class regarding regulatory compliance. Continuing to enforce a strong risk and compliance culture and making it an integral part of our business model is key to making these efforts succeed. I’m convinced that Matthew with his extensive international experience will bring Nordea closer to our ambition in leading our increased focus on compliance going forward, says Group CEO Casper von Koskull.

Matthew Elderfield is currently Global Head of Compliance at Lloyds Banking Group where his role covers all business areas, ie Retail, Wholesale and Wealth. The Financial Crime unit is also part of his responsibility.

Prior to Lloyds Banking Group Matthew Elderfield has held a number of senior international regulatory roles, most recently as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland when he also served as Deputy Chairman of the European Banking Authority and as a member of the Managing Board of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.

Johan Ekwall will stay on as acting Head of Group Compliance until Matthew Elderfield takes up his position.

Helen Driver Joins as Fund Manager, Global Equities, Aviva

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Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has appointed Helen Driver as fund manager in its Global Equities team. She is based in London and reports to Chris Murphy, Global Head of Equities.

In this new role, Helen is focused on identifying high-conviction large-cap global equity ideas for inclusion in both stand-alone global equity portfolios and as a key part of Aviva Investors’ Multi-Strategy proposition.

Helen has 16 years’ investment management experience and joins from Legal & General Investment Management, where she was fund manager on the UK Real Income Builder Fund. Prior to this, she held investment and client servicing roles with Standard Life Investments.

She is a member of the Asset & Liabilities Committee for the Social Investment Business, which provides grants and loans to voluntary sector organisations. In this voluntary role, she helps to review the investment portfolio for the Futurebuilders England & Modernisation Funds.

Chris Murphy, Global Head of Equities, said:

“I am very pleased to welcome Helen to Aviva Investors. She brings strong expertise in building and managing equity portfolios and a proven track record in successful stock selection. I am certain she will make a significant contribution to the team as we continue to develop our global equities proposition.”

XP Investimentos: “We Strongly Believe We Can Break the BRL 100 Billion Mark in Five Years”

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The firm XP Investimentos has dedicated more than 10 years innovating and transforming the way Brazilians invest. They were the first firm that introduced the idea of “financial shopping” in the Brazilian market, aiming to provide more freedom of choice to their clients. The firm has already about BRL 35 billion in assets under management, and is expecting to grow up to BRL 100 billion in the next five years. In an exclusive interview with Funds Society, Beny Podlubny, Head of the Wealth Management division at XP Investimentos, talks about their main areas of development and growth, their international expansion plans, and the Brazilian investors’ preferences.

Since 2008, XP Investimentos has been the largest independent brokerage firm in Brazil, what factors would you say have shaped the success of the firm?

I believe several factors have contributed to our success, the first factor would be the partnership culture in the firm, our firm has attracted several outstanding professionals that act as owners. They are hardworking, committed and top performers. These same professionals will not stop working until reaching our main goal: the highest level of service. Secondly, our main focus are our clients. We do our homework daily and constantly compare ourselves to the best companies in Brazil known for this service. And thirdly, we invest on innovation, and when I say innovation I do not only mean technology, but also how we conduct businesses offering creative solutions and easy access to products and services.

XP Investimentos offers three type of services: Exclusive Advisory (Assesoria Exclusiva), Self-Service (Auto Atendimento), and the service offered through your Partner Network (Rede de Parceiros XP). Which line of business has shown greater growth in the last couple of years? And, which areas are a priority in terms of resource allocation for XP Group?

Since our Advisory Group is the newest line of business in the group and therefore the one with the smallest asset base, this is the one that is growing the most. We are having a tremendous growth in 2016, reaching more than BRL 3 billion on assets under management, up to April. On the retail side, we are also having huge growth, especially in the on line business. We have partnered with Red Ventures, and they are doing a fine job in helping us find new clients through our online platform. On March, we have opened 20,000 accounts and have raised more than BRL 2.1 billion.

What is the current size of the Wealth Management division unit? What are your goals for the next five years?

The XP wealth management platform can be accessed by our internal bankers and also by our partner network. Today we have around 15,000 clients with more than BRL 1million of investments, totaling BRL 15 billion.The wealth management market in Brazil is about BRL 1 trillion, and in five years we strongly believe we can break the BRL 100 billion mark.

When we consider the undeclared wealth held by Brazilians abroad, and the amount expected to bring the undergoing tax amnesty, we are even more confident about reaching this goal. At XP, we know that we are prepared to serve these clients in our Brazilian and US Platforms, as well as in our new European offices.

XP Investimentos has an open fund platform with more than 300 funds listed, are there any preferences on any particular asset management firm from investors?

Brazil has a long history of high interest rates. Therefore, clients are used to investing in bonds and fixed income funds. That is the biggest strategy for any portfolio in Brazil. Here at XP we have a strong due diligence process to select and approve the managers that are in our platform. We also offer market intelligence to our bankers and partners network in order to enable them to better serve their clients. Finally, clients can access our comparison tools to analyze the best risk adjusted returns.

XP Investimentos also distributes funds of XP Gestao de Recursos, being XP Long Short FIC FIM, XP Investor FI Renda Fixa Crédito Privado LP, and XP Referenciado FI Referenciado DI among the funds with larger assets under management, what do these strategies bring to investors?

Even though those funds are managed by XP, they compete in equal terms to any other fund in our platform. Those funds are managed so that they beat different benchmarks and are used by clients to have a diversified portfolio in a totally independent manner. Clients like and trust the XP brand, however, they only invest in those funds after comparing them to all the options they have in our platform.

Group XP has two office branches in the US, one in New York and another one in Miami, through its affiliated company, XP Securities. The firm currently serves institutional clients, are there any future plans of servicing wealth management clients (non-US resident offshore business)?

Actually, we are already serving Latin American clients through our US platform. We also just announced a new group of 10 bankers that are joining us to expand our European business. We aim to have USD 5 billion abroad in less than two years.

Brazilian equity and fixed income markets rallied since the beginning of the year on speculations on politic turmoil, but the Brazilian economy still faces serious challenges, and it is expected that the economy and corporate earnings will suffer from it. Are you increasing exposure to international assets? Which vehicles do you use for that purpose?

Brazil is living a very interesting moment. We are about to live an important political shift that will have major repercussions in society and economy. We can see asset prices move further and we are following the market closely in search for opportunities, constantly doing our homework. We also believe that Brazilian clients should have a diversified portfolio and that also means having US dollar denominated assets. Brazilians can access the offshore market through different vehicles. It all depends on how much money does the client have to invest and what are the client’s goals for that capital. In summary, nowadays there are several funds in Brazil that give exposure to the offshore market. Clients can also wire their money to an offshore platform and invest their money from there.

High inflation and depreciation of the Brazilian real had a great impact last year, how are you protecting portfolios from these events?

The political shift can dramatically change this dynamic. But there are several ways to protect a portfolio from an inflation peak, such as NTN-Bs, Brazilian treasury protected inflation notes. Regarding protecting a portfolio from currency depreciation, there are also many possibilities, one of them is through funds that hold USD based assets, such as equities and global fixed income. As aforementioned, our clients with bigger portfolios also have part of their wealth abroad.

Since the beginning, Grupo XP has put a lot of effort in developing an educational model with courses and conferences for its clients, how is this effort paying back to the firm?

XP’s culture is based on education. Since inception, XP collaborators have trained thousands of investors on how to build a portfolio and trade their money. The results are definitely a consequence of the company’s main beliefs. XP wants its clients to invest better. When clients are investing better, they bring more money and recommend our platform to their friends. I strongly believe that our education culture made us reach the BRL 35 billion mark and explains part of our growth.

Nikko Asset Management and Legal & General Investment Management Announce a Business Cooperation Agreement

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Japanese manager Nikko Asset Management (Nikko AM) and Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) have signed a business cooperation agreement for the provision of investment management services.

Under the agreement, LGIM and Legal & General Investment Management America (LGIMA) will provide global fixed income products that Nikko Asset Management will distribute to Japanese investors, primarily Japanese insurance companies and banks. The first funds are expected to launch in mid-2016.

LGIM has also agreed to facilitate the marketing and sale of Nikko Asset Management’s products in the UK and other countries.

Takumi Shibata, President & CEO of Nikko Asset Management said: “We are delighted to announce our business cooperation with LGIM. We are sure that this collaboration will truly benefit our clients through the provision of differentiated fixed income investment solutions offered by LGIM.”

Mark Zinkula, Chief Executive of LGIM said: “I am delighted to be working with Nikko Asset Management on this new business agreement. Japan is a key part of our strategy as we continue to build out our global asset management business. We look forward to providing Nikko Asset Management’s clients with access to our high quality range of fixed income products and services”.

Eric Varvel Appointed Global Head of Asset Management at Credit Suisse

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Credit Suisse has announced that Eric Varvel will join the International Wealth Management (IWM) division as Global Head of Asset Management, effective June 1, 2016. From New York, he will succeed Bob Jain, reporting to Iqbal Khan, CEO International Wealth Management, and will be a member of IWM’s Management Committee.

Eric Varvel, who has more than 25 years of experience at Credit Suisse,will spend a significant portion of his time in Switzerland and in various emerging markets, including in the Asia Pacific region, to drive forward the further development of the global Asset Management franchise.

Iqbal Khan, CEO of International Wealth Management, commented: “We are delighted to have such an accomplished senior leader to head our Asset Management business and look forward to working with him in this capacity. We are confident that his global experience, track record and expertise will significantly contribute to the further development of our Asset Management franchise and to the achievement of our ambitious goals. Eric’s strong relationships with many strategic clients will be a great benefit not only to the Asset Management business, but also to the IWM division overall.”

Global Asset Management has a strong US-based Alternative Investments footprint, combined with a leading Swiss-based Core Investments business and a solid foundation in emerging markets. Eric Varvel will be instrumental in growing the firms Alternative Investments franchise, fostering the partnership with the Swiss Universal Bank to further strengthen the bank´s position in Switzerland and accelerating the business’ growth in emerging markets and Europe, he added.

Eric Varvel has more than 25 years of experience at Credit Suisse. He served as a member of the Executive Board from February 2008 to October 2014. During this period, he held senior roles including CEO of the Investment Bank, and CEO of the Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to his appointment to the Executive Board, he was the Co-Head of the global Investment Banking division, where he was based in New York. Before that, Eric Varvel spent 15 years building Credit Suisse’s footprint in the Asia Pacific region in a variety of senior roles, including Head of Investment Banking, Head of Emerging Markets Coverage and Head of Fixed Income Sales and Corporate Derivative Sales. During that time, he was based in Tokyo, Jakarta and Singapore. Most recently, Eric Varvel served as Chairman of the Emerging Markets and Sovereign Wealth Funds and a senior advisor to the CEO.

PIMCO: A Certain Trump Candidacy Leaves Much Uncertain for Investors

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According to Libby Cantrill, Executive Vice President in PIMCO’s Executive Office, now that Ted Cruz and John Kasich have dropped out of the race, Donald Trump is all but certain to receive the Republican nomination in July at the party’s convention. A Trump candidacy, however, doesn’t make it easier for investors to anticipate the possible economic and market implications of a Trump presidency if he were to win the U.S. general election in November. Here are two important reasons behind the uncertainty:

Trump does not necessarily subscribe to the conventional Republican orthodoxy of lower taxes, less spending and open markets made famous by President Ronald Reagan. Indeed, Trump’s economic agenda is more ideologically varied – with some tenets of Republican orthodoxy, such as lower taxes across the board, and with some Democratic principles, such as preserving Social Security and Medicare. Most famously, Trump’s extreme policy position on trade, which calls for a total overhaul of existing U.S. trade agreements and possible punitive action against U.S. trading partners, such as a 45% tariff on Chinese imports, does not belong to the platform of either party.
Trump’s stated economic policies are at times conflicting and often changing, which also makes it difficult for investors to interpret the possible consequences. For instance, several weeks ago in an interview with the Washington Post, Donald Trump called for a total elimination of the U.S. $19 trillion debt over the next eight years, which is effectively infeasible without abolishing most government spending and substantially increasing taxes. At the same time, Trump has called for a tax plan that would increase the debt by $9 trillion (according to the Tax Foundation). Trump has since walked away from the pledge to exhaust the U.S. debt but it still leaves observers wondering where he is focusing: on austerity or on fiscal expansion?

“What are investors supposed to do with a candidate whose economic ideology is divergent from that of his party’s, not to mention often inconsistent and fluid? At the very least, give it some time. Trump, who interestingly does not have much of a policy team to date, will have to hire experienced policy advisers who will help him solidify his economic agenda before heading into the convention – and certainly before he engages formally in debates with the other presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, a known policy wonk. At that point, we should have a better idea of what a Trump administration would mean for both the economy and the markets – for better or worse,” concludes Cantrill.

Martin Blessing Joins UBS’ Executive Board

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Martin Blessing will succeed Lukas Gaehwiler as President Personal & Corporate Banking and President UBS Switzerland in the Group Executive Board (GEB) of UBS, effective 1 September 2016. Blessing was CEO of Commerzbank AG until the end of April this year. During his 15 years on the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank, half of which as its Chairman, Blessing significantly shaped the firm. He managed the successful integration of Dresdner Bank and led the bank back to stability and a robust business model following the financial crisis. Today, Commerzbank is active in more than 50 countries, finances 30 percent of Germany’s foreign trade and is the undisputed leader in financing German SMEs. The firm serves around 15 million clients with over 50,000 employees. Prior to Commerzbank, Blessing was at Dresdner Bank and the consultancy McKinsey. He studied in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Frankfurt am Main, Germany, following a bank apprenticeship.

Also effective 1 September 2016, Lukas Gaehwiler will take on a new strategic role as Chairman of the Region Switzerland, focusing on clients and other selected mandates. At the same time and at his own request, he will step down from his current operative roles as President UBS Switzerland and President Personal & Corporate Banking (P&C), as well as from the GEB. For more than six years, Gaehwiler has run the business of UBS in Switzerland very successfully. In that time, UBS regained its position as the unquestioned market-leading universal bank in its home market. He oversaw a sustained increase in profitability during challenging market conditions, with significant new client growth, as well as the successful digitalization of the business, continuous improvement in customer satisfaction, and the effective implementation of a new legal structure for UBS in Switzerland.

Group Chief Executive Officer Sergio P. Ermotti: “I thank Lukas Gaehwiler for his excellent work and am personally pleased that he will continue to remain close to UBS in his new role. With Martin Blessing we gain a professional with a proven track record and significant experience in all areas of the business for UBS. I am certain he will further advance our business in Switzerland and beyond.”

Julius Baer Appoints Yves Robert-Charrue as Head Investment Solutions Group ad Interim

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Julius Baer has appointed Yves Robert-Charrue as Head Investment Solutions Group (ISG) ad interim with immediate effect, in addition to his duties as Head Intermediaries. In his additional function, Yves Robert-Charrue will also report directly to CEO Boris F.J. Collardi.

He succeeds Burkhard Varnholt who, following realignments within ISG at the beginning of this year, has decided to leave the Bank at the end of May. According to Citywire, Varnholt will join rival firm Credit Suisse as deputy global chief investment officer within its investment solutions and products team. He will formally join in November. Varnholt will be based in Zurich and report to Michael Strobaek, global CIO and head of investment solutions and products.

As a result of these changes, Yves Bonzon will become sole Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Julius Baer. He will continue to lead the Bank’s Investment Management (IM) unit which is responsible for managing discretionary investment solutions.

Yves Robert-Charrue joined Julius Baer in 2009 and has been member of the Bank’s Executive Board since 2010. He already was Head ISG from 2010 to 2011 and can thus draw on this previous experience in leading the unit.

In the past two years, Burkhard Varnholt has been instrumental in shaping Julius Baer’s investment approach, enhancing its products and services offering and further developing the Next Generation platform. In particular, he has systematically integrated environmental, social and governance criteria into the selection of the assets.

Boris F.J. Collardi, CEO of Julius Baer, said: “I am pleased that Yves Robert-Charrue has agreed to assume the leadership of ISG ad interim. At the same time, I sincerely thank Burkhard Varnholt for his valuable contribution in the past years – thanks to his vision, Julius Baer has become a leading private bank with regard to responsible investing. We wish him the best of success for his future endeavours.”

Richard Gill to Lead BNY Mellon Markets in EMEA

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BNY Mellon appointed Richard Gill as head of its Markets business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Gill will lead the regional business strategy and have overall responsibility for managing Markets within EMEA. He will report to Michelle Neal, president of BNY Mellon Markets.

“Richard’s appointment allows us to better balance global and regional considerations in managing our businesses,” said Neal. “Our senior regional executives in EMEA and Asia Pacific (APAC) now have dual reporting lines to the head of the region and to the global head of their business. These changes will empower these executives and give them significant input on issues that affect local employees, business partners and clients.”

Gill has worked at BNY Mellon for over 20 years and his previous roles include co-head of FX Trading and chief FX Dealer. In his new position, he will also serve as a member of the Markets Executive Management Team, the Markets Risk Committee and the EMEA Chairman’s Forum. Regionally, Gill will continue to be based in London and report to Michael Cole-Fontayn, chairman of EMEA at BNY Mellon.

Mark Militello will continue as head of Markets APAC and report directly to Neal. Militello will also serve as a member of the Markets Executive Management Team, the Markets Risk Committee and the APAC Executive Committee. Regionally, Militello will continue to report to Steve Lackey, chairman of APAC at BNY Mellon.

Standard Life Investments and Bosera International Launch Fund for Investors in China

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Standard Life Investments and Bosera Asset Management announced on Monday the launch of the Bosera-Standard Life Investments Emerging Opportunities Bond Fund. The Fund signals the establishment of a strategic relationship between the two companies, with an aim to collaborate in several areas including joint product innovation and investment management cooperation.

The Fund is a sub-fund of Bosera Investment Funds, an umbrella unit trust established under the laws of Hong Kong. The Fund aims to achieve income and capital appreciation through primarily investing in global emerging market (EM) debt securities and EM currencies.

The development of the Fund builds on the combined strengths of Standard Life Investments’ strong emerging market debt investment capability and Bosera’s China fixed income expertise.

The new Fund will be managed by Kai He, Head of Fixed Income at Bosera International, who is responsible for portfolio allocation in the mainland China and Hong Kong, and for the investment management of the Fund overall. The sub-manager of the Fund is Richard House, Head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income at Standard Life Investments, who will manage portfolio allocation in emerging markets globally except mainland China and Hong Kong.

David Peng, Head of Asia, Standard Life Investments, said, “The co-creation of the new Fund in Hong Kong signifies the first step in our strategic collaboration with Bosera International, one of the leading Chinese asset managers, which reinforces Standard Life Investments’ global business strategy and strong conviction in the China growth trajectory. Bosera International and Standard Life Investments have a proven record of picking successful investment opportunities from within the Chinese bond market and global EM debt respectively. Working together, with our combined international and local market insight, our clients are offered exposure to an expanded global universe of EM opportunities. This underpins our commitment to deliver innovative investment solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of investors.”

Kai Shao, Executive Vice President, Shenzhen headquarters of Bosera International, said, “Capitalizing on the collective strengths of Standard Life Investments’ global investment expertise and Bosera’s China fixed income capability, the partnership aims to strengthen both companies’ ability to deliver for investors. We are delighted to have this excellent opportunity to collaborate with Standard Life Investments on product development, investment management and knowledge exchange. The joint development of the new Fund marks the first initiative of our strategic relationship. This is great news for our clients as they are now provided a new investment choice to tap into the wider, exciting EM fixed income opportunities.”

Kai He, Head of Fixed Income, Bosera International, commented, “The Chinese bond markets, both onshore and offshore, have become a more and more important part of the world’s fixed income market, and have been delivering good returns over the past years. We believe it is worth giving China a more fair allocation in the EM space, by which investors will benefit from an enlarged opportunity set. This is what this Fund will bring about.”

Richard House, Head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income, Standard Life Investments, added, “The fundamentals of emerging markets are stronger than commonly believed. EM sovereign debt offers an attractive opportunity for both long term growth and income, and has produced better risk-adjusted return than developed markets bonds over the long term. Currently, EM sovereign debt offers one of the highest yields among liquid global fixed income asset classes. The Chinese bond market is the third largest in the world. The weight of China in current EM debt indexes does not reflect the global importance of the Chinese bond market and we believe it should form a more significant proportion of a global EM debt portfolio. ”