Tennis champion Andy Murray announced yesterday that he has entered a long-term partnership arrangement with Seedrs, the London-based equity crowdfunding platform.
The arrangement will see Andy joining the Seedrs Advisory Board to provide advice to the firm with respect to businesses working in the health, sport and wearable technology spaces. Andy will not be offering advice to individual investors or recommending specific campaigns.
He will also be investing regularly in startups and other early-stage businesses through Seedrs and helping Seedrs to grow its brand in the UK and internationally.
Equity crowdfunding is revolutionising the way startups and other early-stage businesses are being funded. It involves the raising of funds by obtaining many small investments from a large number of people through online platforms.
This form of business fundraising is proving increasingly popular, and it allows businesses not only to obtain the capital they need but also to build a community of supportive investors who can help them grow.
The equity crowdfunding market is growing quickly. Since its launch in July 2012, Seedrs has reported 15% month-on-month growth, and within the next few years it expects to be funding hundred of millions of pounds into thousands of businesses each year.
This partnership represents the first time a major public figure has teamed up with an equity crowdfunding platform in this way, and it heralds a significant milestone in the development of the equity crowdfunding industry.
Andy Murray shared his perspective: “I’ve always been interested in investment, and being able to get involved in an innovative way to help support British startups really appealed to me. Equally as important was working with people I trusted and who fully understood the huge responsibility of handling people’s money. I’m looking forward to working with Seedrs and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
Matt Gentry, who runs Andy’s management company, 77, added: “Andy is a keen investor, with his own management agency alongside a property portfolio, which includes a hotel. Crowdfunding is a space we’ve been looking at for a while, to complement his business interests, and he’s excited about being able to help startup businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK. Andy’s been lucky enough to have support from sponsors throughout his career, not only helping to aid him and his team financially, but also adding valuable mentoring in many cases. For him the opportunity to give something back to help to up and coming business men and women was very appealing.”
Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, celebrated the announcement as follows: “Andy Murray is the perfect partner for Seedrs as we drive our growth to the next level. In many ways, he represents the exact combination of qualities that entrepreneurs need to be successful: determination, focus, integrity and skill. We are particularly looking forward to working with him as a member of our Advisory Board: we believe he can bring a different perspective into certain aspects of the early-stage business community in the health, sport and wearable technology spaces, and we look forward to his input and support.”
Lord Young of Graffham, the Prime Minister’s former Enterprise Adviser and a long-time champion of equity crowdfunding, said this about the announcement: “Both modern tennis and equity crowdfunding have their origins in Britain, and Andy Murray and Seedrs are world-leaders in their respective fields. It is wonderful to see the two coming together in this unique partnership, and I believe the outcome of it will be to see more great British businesses raising the capital they need, and more investors having the chance to be part of those businesses.”
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainCarinaHofi. Momentum adecuado para invertir en Cocos
Since 2006, La Française has implemented a governance structure based on an Executive Board and a Supervisory Board. In order to meet the strictest governance requirements, La Française is opening its Supervisory Board to two independent specialists of the property and financial sector.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu and Philippe Marini now form part of the La Française Supervisory Board, joining forces with André Halipré, Vice Chairman of the Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe Federation, and Eric Charpentier, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe.
Philippe Marini is the Mayor of Compiègne, President of the Greater Compiègne urban community (ARC) and President of the Syndicat Mixte de la Vallée de l’Oise (SMVO, Joint Union of the Oise Valley). He has served on the Gimar et Cie Supervisory Board since 1999 and became Chairman of their Management Board on 8 January 2015.
Jean-Baptiste de Franssu is the Chairman of INCIPIT, a Mergers & Acquisitions advisory and consulting firm which he founded in 2011. He is non-executive director of ACOFI SCA, Petercam S.A. and Tages LLP. He has been President of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) since July 2014.
Foto: Sagrario Gallego, Flickr, Creative Commons. La mitad de los españoles suscribiría un plan de pensiones si su empresa se lo ofreciese
Under the terms of the agreement, Aegon has acquired a 25% stake in La Banque Postale Asset Management for a consideration of EUR 112.5 million. LBPAM is the fifth largest asset manager in France, with approximately EUR 150 billion assets under management.
“I am delighted that Aegon is teaming up with La Banque Postale”, said Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon. “By leveraging Aegon’s global investment expertise and La Banque Postale’s extensive distribution network, this strategic asset management partnership opens up a large market opportunity. This will enable us to help many new customers in France secure their financial future through long-term investment solutions.”
The opportunity to create a strategic partnership with La Banque Postale supports Aegon’s ambition to grow and diversify its customer base and to provide fee-based, capital-light products. It also represents a significant step in implementing Aegon Asset Management’s strategy to expand its services and solutions for third-party customers internationally.
The two companies will work together to further strengthen the development of LBPAM, which will offer a comprehensive range of products – including international equity and multi-asset investment products. These will be distributed through La Banque Postale’s network of approximately 17,000 points of sale, online and by its institutional sales team.
For the last 10 years, Ivan Bouillot has been managing the European equities fund BL-Equities Europe. Let’s find out more about how fund manager Ivan Bouillot achieves this.
What are the specific characteristics of the BL-Equities Europe fund?
The strategy is concentrated on around 40 shares, which is small compared to other funds in the same category. They represent our strong investment convictions, both in terms of each share’s potential appreciation and the quality of the company.
Why the 40-share limit?
So we don’t spread ourselves too thinly and so we can follow each of our investments very closely. These 40 shares are selected from a universe that is itself limited and very stable over time, comprising around 150 shares altogether. This means we don’t have to constantly search through several thousand listed companies. From this sample of 150 stocks, we select those with the share prices we feel are attractive.
How do you select the companies?
Our selection is based on our criteria of quality and understanding the business. We satisfy ourselves that the product or service offered by the company is different to that offered by its competitors. We avoid companies that do not offer added value as they are likely to operate in more competitive markets, usually have lower profit margins, and make a loss at the slightest hint of economic slowdown. In situations like these, the management and board of directors of these types of companies tend to waste a lot of time resolving all sorts of problems. Our preferred companies are those that have some protection against the advent of new competitors: for example ones with a brand in the consumer sector, specific know-how in manufacturing or a therapeutic specialisation in pharmaceuticals. We call these barriers to entry. We also like companies with the capacity to increase their dividends year-on-year as part of a policy of profit distribution to shareholders. Good examples are SKF in industrials and Unilever in foods. In addition, our investment choices are made with a 3 to 5 year horizon in order to take some of the markets’ day-to-day ups and downs out of the equation.
What other selection criteria do you use?
The fund aims to focus more on capital growth than yield. So we do not include companies with inherently low business growth, such as telecoms operators and utilities. We also steer clear of sectors or companies that are difficult to understand. And generally, we tend to favour manufacturers or intermediaries which supply high-added-value solutions over companies that sell their products directly to the end consumer, as the former are more profitable and less capital intensive. In the automotive sector, for example, we prefer to buy shares in a high-performance brake manufacturer, like the Italian company Brembo, rather than in the car manufacturer itself.
According to The Third Annual Study of Advisory Success: Confidence and Concern in the New Digital Age, released this week at Pershing’s INSITE™ 2015 conference, advisors are fairly evenly divided between viewing digital advisors, also known as robo-advisors, as competition or irrelevant to their business. Perhaps most surprising in the research was that only 19 percent of advisors think digital advice can complement their practice.
“There is no question that digital platforms are transforming the industry,” says Ben Harrison, head of business development and relationship management at Pershing Advisor Solutions. “Though most advisors are familiar with digital advice, a relatively small percentage of advisors are currently using this technology. The biggest opportunity we see for transformation is for advisors to automate low-value tasks, expand their reach and profitability.”
The survey also found that just over a quarter of advisors surveyed (27 percent) believe digital advice is irrelevant to their practice; while nearly another quarter (23 percent) feel that digital advice represents competition. By means of comparison, one-third (33 percent) of the advisors ages 18-34 consider digital advice to be competition, and only nine percent think they can complement their business. Comparatively, 27 percent of advisors between the ages of 35-54 view digital advice as competition, while only 16 percent of advisors over the age of 55 view them as competition
In general, price was cited by respondents as one of the most threatening factors of digital online financial providers. More than three quarters of advisors surveyed say the low cost of digital advice will pose some sort of threat to their practice. This data is underscored by the finding of a different study that found more than half of investors surveyed agreed that the investment advice most financial advisors offer is not worth the one percent fee.
“It is short-sighted to limit the ways technology can complement a business to only digital advice,” said Kim Dellarocca, managing director at Pershing. “Digital advice is important, but it is only one area where a firm needs to evolve their technology strategy to deliver a wealth management experience that mirrors the expectations of today’s consumers and workforce.”
The study suggests action steps for advisors to transform digital innovations into drivers of positive change and business growth, including:
Plan your approach to technology adoption. Advisors should understand where they sit on the digital spectrum and create a plan for where they want to be. Most begin by automating repetitive or low-value- tasks in their business. Once implemented, only then should they systematically work towards adopting increasingly sophisticated tools.
Make high-touch practices even more efficientand more personal. Digital tools, like those that automate client communications can help preserve the “high touch” experience many advisors are known for, but in a more efficient and more personal way that is customized to clients’ specific interests.
Improve your profitability and technology appeal. By automating key tasks that support the delivery of wealth management services, advisors can increase their margins and productivity. Advisors can use that gained time and resources to focus on higher valued activities like service delivery and more in-depth financial planning. Infusing technology into your business with greater self-service tools and more automation, not only adds to profitability, but creates a more modern feeling for client communications and interactions that today’s tech savvy investors crave.
Articulate your value. As investors and advisors both respond to digital advice trends, it is more important than ever for advisors to educate their clients about the work they do on their behalf– and the distinct value and wisdom the advisor offers in relationship to the fees they charge.
Be realistic about focus of the practice. If advisors have an appetite for tech-enabled growth, they should invest time and money in the latest capabilities. If not, their focus should shift towards financial planning or serving wealthy or hands-off investors.
Ireland is seizing the opportunity offered by the soaring popularity of passive investments to widen its lead as Europe’s top domicile for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to the latest issue of The Cerulli Edge – Global Edition.
Cerulli Associates dismisses Luxembourg’s attempt to win ground in this arena by its scrapping the subscription tax for ETFs as too little, too late. The global analytics firm is also skeptical that the United Kingdom’s scrapping of stamp duty on ETF trading will enhance London’s hopes of becoming a serious domicile player for the index-linked funds anytime soon.
Flows into Dublin-domiciled ETFs accounted for 85% of all European ETF flows in 2014, while assets under management (AUM) in Dublin ETFs has tripled since the end of 2011, to stand at €223 billion (US$250 billion). AUM in other domiciles rose 56% over this period.
Cerulli notes that tax advantages, infrastructure and a history of delivery for asset management companies all work to the Emerald Isle’s advantage when it comes to a choice of domicile. It contends that factors such as the absence of tax on investment funds, and Ireland’s strong taxation treaties with other countries, notably the United States, are crucial considerations for investors choosing ETFs.
“The phrase ‘ETF price war’ may have become a cliché, but for sound reasons. Companies such as Vanguard, one of the biggest ETF players, are looking to undercut rivals. Last year it slashed the charge for one of its Dublin-domiciled S&P 500 UCITS [Undertaking for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities] ETFs to 7 basis points. With costs in this sort of bracket, tax differences will be keenly felt,” says Barbara Wall, Europe research director at Cerulli.
She notes that for some companies, the difference is enough to justify moving ETFs from their existing Luxembourg domicile. Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management is in the process of changing much of its ETF range from synthetic to physical. The latter are often seen as easier to understand. But by moving the domicile to Ireland at the same time, it can realize tax advantages not available in Luxembourg. It has announced the closures of several Luxembourg funds–including products tracking the S&P 500–which will be merged into Ireland funds.
Brian Gorman, an analyst with Cerulli, notes that after gaining Irish domicile, the next stop for many ETFs is the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE). “Although the ISE offers limited scope for trading, an ETF can then quickly gain admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange, the biggest and most liquid market in Europe. The cost of access via this route is much lower than taking the direct option. Many providers are choosing to trade their ETFs across a range of stock markets.”
Investing in Emerging Markets continues to prove challenging and volatile, but Standard Life Investments has produced a heat map to assess the vulnerability of emerging market economies to future shocks. The risk profiles of emerging economies have changed considerably in the past six months. That is the period that will take the map and research to be updated with the aim of helping investors and fund managers improve their understanding of the large amounts of economic and financial data and potential threats currently facing emerging markets.
Countries such as Mexico and India generally look safer now, while conditions in already risky countries like Brazil and Malaysia have deteriorated further. The largest reduction in vulnerability was in Ukraine and Russia, thanks partly to better management of monetary policy, although this could change if there is a re-escalation of conflict between the two countries.
Jeremy Lawson, Chief Economist, and Nicolas Jaquier, Emerging Markets Economist for the Emerging Market Debt team created the heat map in October 2014 and produced an update in May 2015 which incorporates data following the two main shocks in recent months – the collapse in oil prices and sharp rise of the dollar.
Jeremy Lawson, Chief Economist, Standard Life Investments said: “Risk improvement was particularly prevalent in Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, thanks to improving fiscal policy and falling inflation. Mexico and the Philippines which scored amongst the most resilient back in October also continued to strengthen – as a large oil importer the Philippines benefitted from falling oil prices. India and Indonesia were also out-performers, cutting fuel subsidies and spending more on infrastructure.
“At the other end of the spectrum, vulnerabilities are heightened in economies with large macroeconomic imbalances or reliance on exporting commodities, such as Brazil, Chile, Malaysia and Turkey.
“The dispersion of risk highlights that emerging markets should not be analysed as a homogenous group, it’s essential that investors adopt an active unconstrained approach. Whilst emerging market risk remains well below pre-Asian crisis levels, the next challenge ahead will be the beginning of the Federal Reserve’s rate hiking expected in the second half of 2015 – it’s the pace of this that will prove critical.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, Flickr1 de junio de 2015 - (de izquierda a derecha) Francisco Galindo Vélez, Embajador de El Salvador en Francia firmado el . El Salvador se une a los esfuerzos internacionales para luchar contra la evasión fiscal internacional
El Salvador’s Ambassador to France, Mr. Francisco Galindo Vélez, signed the Convention in the presence of Mr. Carlos Cáceres, El Salvador’s Minister for Finance.
El Salvador is the 8th Latin American country and the 3rd member of the Central American Common Market – after Costa Rica and Guatemala – to join the Convention.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría offered congratulations during the signing ceremony, saying that it “sends yet another strong message to the international community about El Salvador’s commitment to fighting international tax avoidance and evasion by increasing transparency”. He added that the OECD “looks forward to its rapid entry into force so that El Salvador can seize this opportunity to build trust in its institutions and reinforce the rule of law.”
Developed by the OECD and the Council of Europe, the Convention provides a comprehensive multilateral framework for the exchange of information and assistance in tax collection. Its coverage includes administrative assistance between tax authorities for information exchange on request, automatic exchange of information, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in the collection of tax debts.
Since the G20 put financial sector transparency and tax evasion on the international agenda in 2009, the Convention has become a central element of international cooperation efforts. It is seen as the ideal instrument for swift implementation of the new international Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters developed by the OECD and G20 countries as well as automatic exchange of country by country reporting under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project
El Salvador became a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in 2011. El Salvador’s Phase 1 peer review report, which demonstrates their high level of commitment to the international standard for tax transparency and exchange of information, was published in March 2015.
Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BBB-‘ rating to Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.’s (Petrobras) proposed senior unsecured century notes issuance. The notes, which mature in 2115, will be issued through its wholly owned subsidiary, Petrobras Global Finance B.V. (PGF), and will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by Petrobras. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Fitch currently rates Petrobras ‘BBB-‘. The Rating Outlook is Negative.
Key rating drivers
Petrobras’ ratings continue to reflect its close linkage with the sovereign rating of Brazil due to the government’s control of the company and its strategic importance to Brazil as its near monopoly supplier of liquid fuels. Absent implicit and explicit government support and its defacto monopoly position, Petrobras’ credit quality is not commensurate with an investment grade rating.
Government support is evidenced by the recent lending commitments offered by stated-owned Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica Federal as well as the decision to maintain gasoline and diesel prices at the pump significantly above international levels in order to bolster Petrobras’ cash flow generation. By law, the federal government must hold at least a majority of Petrobras’ voting stock. The government currently owns 60.5% of Petrobras’ voting rights, directly and indirectly, and has an overall economic stake in the company of 48.9%. Petrobras’ cash position is sufficient to meet its short-term funding needs.
Petrobras’ Negative Outlook reflects the uncertainties surrounding the company’s ability to deleverage its balance sheet over the medium term. Petrobras may face challenges to deleverage its capital structure organically as the corruption scandal may result in delivery delays of production units.
Fitch will continue to monitor Petrobras’ strategy to strengthen its capital structure and expects the company to release coherent deleveraging program once the company releases its revised business plan for the next five years. Should Petrobras succeed in placing this proposed debt issuance, it will be viewed as a positive step in regaining access to the debt capital markets, which the company relies on in order to support its investment plans and funding needs.
Amy Belew, global head of ETP research at BlackRock comments on the May ETP Landscape Report the firm just presented, that Global ETP flows of $18.3bn were concentrated in developed market EAFE equities and Japan funds. Europe and U.S. flows were modest as mixed economic data for both regions has led to uncertainty over growth prospects. Still, 2015 asset gathering remains ahead of the record year-to-date pace set in 2013 and nearly matched last year on the way to a new full-year high.
Broad developed markets equities gathered $6.4bn as demand remains robust for non-U.S. exposures. EAFE ETPs accounted for $4.2bn, with an additional $2.1bn going to global funds. These categories have quickly accumulated $35.8bn year-to-date and are set exceed the average of $45bn over the past two years.
Japan equities maintained momentum with $5.8bn as the Nikkei 225 Index reached its highest level since 20002. Flows were driven by strength in corporate earnings. Locally-domiciled funds led, though asset gathering has also picked up for U.S.- and Europe-listed funds.
Currency-hedged equities brought in $3.4bn, slowed early in the month by a stretch of U.S. dollar weakening that began in April. Flows have proven responsive to currency movements, and resumed toward the end of May across EAFE, Europe and Japan funds as the dollar exhibited renewed strength.
Broad EM equities gathered $1.6bn, and flows have now trended higher during consecutive months for the first time since August. Improving returns, accommodative Chinese government policies and the pause in dollar appreciation have helped turn flows around.
Fixed income flows overall were flat and have been volatile with investors uncertain as to when rates may begin to move higher. Pockets of strength persist, including U.S. investment-grade corporate funds, which gathered $0.9bn, and EM debt, which added $0.5bn to bring year-to-date flows to $3.2bn. But U.S. Treasury funds shed ($2.8bn). Year-to-date fixed income flows remain ahead of the record pace established last year, driven by investment grade and high yield corporate bonds.
