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U.S. Investors Call U.S. Equities Best Opportunity for 2015, Maintaining or Increasing Equity Allocation

According to the 2015 Legg Mason Global Investor Survey, 85% of 458 affluent U.S. investors surveyed said U.S. equities “offer the best opportunities over the next 12 months” among all domestic and global asset classes. This is an increase over the 74% who said the same going into 2014.

In addition, 63% said they are maintaining their equity allocation in 2015, while more investors (32%) expect to increase their allocation to equities over any other asset class. Only 6% said they intend to decrease their allocation to equities in 2015. The majority (89%) said they are optimistic about their investments for 2015.

The U.S. portion of the Legg Mason Global Investor Survey was conducted among 458 affluent investors with a minimum of $200,000 in investable assets. The online survey was conducted by Northstar Research Partners from December 2014 to January 2015.

“Investors are looking for the U.S. equity market’s strong run to continue,” said Matthew Schiffman, Global Head of Marketing for Legg Mason. “Last year, investors told us they had great confidence in U.S. equities for 2014 and they were right: The S&P 500 was up over 11 percent. This year, we’re seeing even more investors expressing confidence in the U.S. equity markets, and this is concerning.”

Mr. Schiffman continued: “Overconfidence can lead to a degree of complacency that could prevent investors from paying close attention to their overall financial plan and how they have allocated their assets as their own needs change. Investors have not changed their asset allocation since we started measuring investor sentiment three years ago, which could be another sign of complacency creep.”

U.S. Investor Asset Allocation

U.S. investors entered 2015 with an average asset allocation almost identical to their allocation going into 2014 and slightly more aggressive than in 2013.The average asset allocation among investors who considered themselves “aggressive” included 52% in equities going into 2015; 40% of aggressive investors said they intend to increase their allocation to equities in 2015.

The top three issues that investors worry could “derail the progress” of their investments in 2015 are:global economic instability; economic instability in the U.S.; and increasing market volatility.Only 11% are concerned about inflation and just 5% are concerned about rising interest rates/yields.

Going Global

Investors surveyed have an average of 13% of their assets invested internationally; 41% of investors said they “will be more focused on international investments in the next year compared to last year.”

“Investors may be more willing to travel abroad than invest there,” Mr. Schiffman said. “This goes back to the potential for complacency creep as investors continue to show a preference for investing at home. Opportunities abound globally and should be a consideration in any strategic asset allocation.”

The top three benefits respondents hope to gain by investing internationally are: Diversifying risk across different markets; potential for higher returns than in the U.S.; greater range of investment choices.

Investors see China and Japan as the countries representing the best non-U.S. market investment opportunities over the next 12 months. According to the respondents, the top ten countries (excluding the U.S.) are: China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India, Europe excluding the UK, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico.

Good News for Income-Oriented Investors: Investment “Income Gap” Shrinks Again

Since 2012, Legg Mason has been measuring the investment “income gap” – the difference between what investors seek from their income-producing investments and what they actually receive. This year’s survey reveals that the income gap has been cut in half since inception.

Having income-generating investments is considered a priority to 82% of investors surveyed. Investors also said that on average, 51% of their portfolios are invested in income-producing assets. The top three asset classes they invest in to meet their income needs are:Equity income funds; investment grade bonds and high yield bonds.

Mr. Schiffman stated: “Clearly, only time will tell if investor confidence in the U.S. equity markets will be rewarded again. Regardless of the market’s performance, we encourage investors to be mindful of overconfidence and complacency creep. We also encourage investors to work with financial advisors who will help them take a realistic, active approach to managing their assets recognizing that markets, and their needs, change over time.”

The Urban Megatrend: Long Term Investment Opportunity?

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Accelerating urban expansion offers rich investment opportunities that coincide with the need for institutional investors to look beyond short-term gains as they seek new ways to build long-term strategies. The urban megatrend holds promise particularly in the areas of urban infrastructure, real estate, an evolving agricultural supply chain, and consumer goods and services, according to a white paper released today by Prudential Investment Management

The white paper, entitled The Wealth of Cities, offers a new view of opportunities provided by urban expansion, with specific investment ideas in emerging and developed markets across a range of public and private vehicles that offer attractive avenues for investors.

“Understanding how megatrends affect asset classes is crucial as CIOs move toward a long-term strategic portfolio management approach that takes them beyond simply beating short-term benchmarks,” said David Hunt, CEO of Prudential Investment Management. “As we considered urbanization, we drew from expertise in our global investment businesses specializing in public and private fixed income, public equity, and real estate, to examine its impact across asset classes and share our best thinking on new investment ideas for capitalizing on the long-term opportunities created by expanding cities around the world.”

About 60 to 70 million people will be added to the urban population annually for the next 30 years, showcasing the unparalleled pace at which cities are growing. With this in mind, Prudential Investment Management published The Wealth of Cities, which outlines 10 investment ideas arising from the urbanization boom that are easily accessible to institutional investors.

The paper highlights several trends that offer attractive opportunities, including:

Creating technologically advanced wired cities: By 2020, the number of global Internet users is projected to double to four billion people, resulting in a global opportunity for public and direct private investments in IT infrastructure, broadband, data centers and cell towers.
Expanding transportation capacity: As new cities in emerging markets reach populations in excess of five million, the expansion of primary airports, major seaports and high-speed inter-city railways will present investable opportunities.
Launching anti-pollution initiatives: About half of the world’s urban population is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution. Companies providing solutions like clean energy, waste management and water treatment serve as attractive investment candidates.
Capitalizing on interest in the urban lifestyle: New mixed-use developments, both residential and commercial, are highly attractive investments as people and companies alike become increasingly attracted to urban lifestyle.
Growing retail outlets and logistics support: One billion new urban middle class consumers in emerging markets now have money to spend on retail purchases, allowing for direct and diversified investment opportunities.
Industrializing agriculture: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the world will need to produce 70% more food by 2050. Creating an efficient agriculture supply chain will require, among other things, improved transportation infrastructure, along with innovative and sustainable production methods over the long term.

Financial Services Industry Falls Short in Serving Women Investors Pershing Study Says

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Pershing today released a new report entitled, Women: Investing with a Purpose, exploring what drives women to invest and how advisors can best serve them based on those influences. While financial services firms have been ramping up their efforts to reach women investors, the report provides insight into critical gaps that still exist when it comes to what women want, what they need and what they are receiving from their financial advisors and firms with which they work.

Of the women who work with a financial advisor, 72% said they are very satisfied with their primary financial advisors. This finding points to room for improvement in advisors’ interactions with their women clients. Compared to men, women investors were more likely to want improvements related to their advisors’ soft skills. Women tended to highlight more than men “understanding my goals,” “listening to my needs,” and “patiently answering my questions.” Women were less likely than men to suggest their advisors could improve in “picking investments that perform better” (27% of women compared to 36% of men). Interestingly, nearly half of women (47%) said there was nothing that their advisors should change when asked what areas their financial advisor can improve.

“While there are common threads among all investors in terms of their expectations of their financial advisors, these findings suggest that an important factor is being overlooked by advisors working with women investors, and that is the purpose behind the reasons they invest,” said Kim Dellarocca, managing director at Pershing. “This missing factor may contribute to why 35% of women respondents who do not use a financial advisor say they don’t trust financial advisors are working in their interests. The reality is that a woman’s desired level of understanding can be different, which requires advisors to explore concerns, goals and trade-offs with greater directness and rigor.”

Underlying many of the survey findings are unique challenges that women face later in life that stem from realities including their having longer life expectancies, lower incomes during their working years, potentially higher medical costs and a greater motivation for the beneficiaries of their investments to extend beyond themselves. Given these challenges, increased clarity of clients’ goals can influence the ideal blend of solutions that may create more confidence and better experiences for women investors.

According to the study, retirement, education, flexibility and legacy are four common goals that drive women to invest.

Invesco and Robeco: among The Lipper Fund Award Winners

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Thomson Reuters has announced the winners of the Lipper Fund Awards 2015, UK. The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards that celebrate exceptional performance throughout the professional investment community.

Invesco collected the top Group Award; Robeco also got an Award. The full list of Group Award winners include:

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“This year as in years past, the Lipper Fund Awards winners have exhibited a high level of skill and talent in navigating the ever complex and interconnected markets of today. We at Lipper congratulate the 2015 Award winners for their demonstrated expertise and for delivering outperformance to their collective fund shareholders,” said Robert Jenkins, global head of Lipper Research at Thomson Reuters.

“As active fund houses come under greater competitive pressures in the UK, these Lipper Award winners are beacons among their peers in delivering consistent risk-adjusted returns in difficult markets. They fully deserve this accolade,” said Jake Moeller, head of Lipper UKI research.

Lipper data covers more than 285,000 share classes and over 129,000 funds in 62 markets. It provides the free Lipper Leader ratings for mutual funds registered for sale in over 40 countries.

Differences In Private And Public Company Profitability Indicate Potential Investment Opportunities In Brazil

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In a report released yesterday entitled Brazilian Public Versus Private Companies: Current State of Affairs, S&P Capital IQ concludes that while Brazil’s publicly traded companies provide a better return on their assets in a majority of industries, privately owned companies generally do better at generating sales off their asset base. “Most privately owned companies use assets to drive sales more efficiently, but are not as good at managing costs” said Jay Bhankharia, Senior Manager, S&P Capital IQ, and author of the report. “We believe this implies that strategic guidance and increased oversight can potentially increase margins and profitability substantially for some of these companies.”

“Brazil and Latin America continue to offer attractive investment opportunities, as reflected in record breaking regional private equity fund raising and increased merger volumes in Brazil” said Cynthia Rojas Sejas, Vice President, Market Development-Latin America, S&P Capital IQ.

S&P Capital IQ looks at the performance of companies in various sectors of the Brazilian economy, while providing insight into the differences between the profiles of Privately Owned and Publicly Traded companies. This report compares public and private companies’ ratios of profitability, efficiency, solvency, and liquidity, leveraging the recent addition of Brazilian Private Company Financials to its comprehensive database of standardized and comparable data for public and private companies globally.

Brazilian Public Versus Private Companies: Current State of Affairslooks at a statistical sample consisting of 93 companies with more than $1 billion in revenue, 637 with $100 million to $1 billion in revenue, and 1,862 companies with less than $100 million in revenue. In addition to key valuation and credit metrics, the report takes a look at specific ratios within the banking and energy sectors to better understand key metrics in those industries.

S&P Capital IQ‘s Brazil research is the topic of an upcoming investment seminar entitled “Brazil: Uncovering Potential Opportunities” that will feature Macroeconomist Bernardo Wjuniski from Medley Global Advisors, and Jay Bhankharia and Richard Peterson from S&P Capital IQ.

Santander Appoints Scott Powell CEO of Santander Holdings USA

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The Board of Directors of Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA) announced yesterday that Scott Powell has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Mr. Powell brings extensive experience in retail banking, risk management and consumer and auto lending to Santander. He has held a variety of roles at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., including Head of Banking and Consumer Lending Operations, CEO of Consumer Banking and Retail Investments, Head of Consumer Lending, as well as Chief Risk Officer, Consumer. He also spent 14 years at Citi in a variety of risk management roles. Most recently, Mr. Powell was Executive Chairman of National Flood Services Inc.

Santander Group Executive Chairman Ana Botín said: “We are delighted to have Scott join our team. His expertise and experience in retail banking, consumer finance and risk management will be a great contribution as we work to improve customer service, enhance our U.S.-wide oversight and embed our banking culture across the U.S.”

SHUSA Non-Executive Chairman T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., said: “Scott’s appointment is an important step toward our goal of strengthening Santander Holdings USA to manage our U.S. businesses. This will include bringing all the U.S. units together within SHUSA by the middle of this year.”

Santander Holdings USA, a fully-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander of Spain, owns 100% of Santander Bank, N.A. and 60.5% of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. of Dallas. Besides these units, Santander activities in the U.S. include a private bank in Miami, Banco Santander International, and businesses in Puerto Rico, including Santander Bancorp. These units’ operations will be consolidated within SHUSA by the middle of 2015.

Román Blanco will continue as CEO of Santander Bank.

Ana Botín said: “I would like to thank Roman for his very able leadership of Santander US. I am delighted he will continue to lead Santander Bank, where his focus will be on strengthening the Bank in its U.S. northeast footprint by improving customer service, attracting new customers and deepening customer relationships.”

Gloria and Emilio Estefan List One of Their Mansions in Star Island for $40Mn

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According to The Real Deal, “Nena’s Villa,” a Star Island mansion owned by entertainment industry heavyweights Gloria and Emilio Estefan, has hit the market asking $40 million.

The Estefans — who have collectively received 26 Grammy Awards — actually live in another mansion at 39 Star Island Drive. “They own a beautiful property on two acres, on Star Island,” said Jill Eber of Coldwell Banker, who listed the home with her partner Jill Hertzberg. “This was a guest house for them that they were not using any more” informs The Real Deal.

Always according to this source, the 1.34-acre estate, located at 1 Star Island Drive in Miami Beach, last sold in November 1993 for $1.84 million. The property consists of a main house, built in 1940, and a guest house built in 1995, property records show. The main villa has 4,747 square feet, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms. The 2,661-square-foot guest house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It was offered as a rental for $30,000 a month in 2013.

“The property is phenomenal,” Eber told TRD. “It’s a just under 60,000-square-foot lot, with 240 feet on the bay with spectacular views to downtown and the bay.”

In addition to the Estefans, Star Island is home to Sean “Diddy” Combs; the “Boob God” Leonard Hochstein and his wife, Lisa, of the Real Housewives of Miami — who have torn down their home and are constructing a new mansion; billionaire Phillip Frost and Lennar Corp. Chief Executive Stuart Miller, who is seeking Miami Beach design review board approval to rotate his home and build a new 22,00o square-foot mansion the newly created space, concludes TRD.

BBVA Compass Names New Market President of the Upper Rio Grande Valley

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BBVA Compass announced that Jason Leal has been named its market president of the Upper Rio Grande Valley, where he will lead efforts to increase brand awareness and represent the bank’s interests in the growing market.

Leal will provide leadership for all commercial banking activities, including business development and market leadership coordination, in an area that is experiencing solid growth in the health care and retail industries. He joined the BBVA Compass team eight years ago and most recently served as a commercial underwriting center manager.

“Jason’s a proven local leader and a Rio Grande Valley native, so this is a natural fit,” said BBVA Compass Texas Border Region CEO Hector Chacon. “He has adapted to change, maintained a strong reputation in the community and has remained committed to our success. I am certain he will continue to establish and strengthen our client relationships in the market and help contribute to our future success.”

Leal, who began his career in 1989 at the Rio Grande Valley-based Texas State Bank, has 24 years of banking experience with BBVA Compass and its legacy banks. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Brownsville, is a board member and vice president of Affordable Homes of South Texas, board member and president of the McAllen Country Club, board member and chairman of the Leadership McAllen Alumni Association and was recently placed on the University of Texas-Pan American Foundation Board of Trustees.

Invesco Perpetual Declared Overall Fund Group of the Year at the Lipper Fund Awards UK 2015

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Invesco Perpetual wins the Overall Fund Group, plus two individual fund awards, at the 2015 Lipper Fund Awards. The Lipper Fund Awards honour funds and fund management firms that have excelled in consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.

“As advocates of active fund management, we’re delighted to have won Lipper’s Overall Fund Group Award in 2015 which recognises the strength and depth of our product offering”, said the firm in a press release.

“At Invesco Perpetual, we’ve built a renowned investment culture in Henley-on-Thames which supports our talented and experienced fund managers. Alongside our long-established equity and fixed interest capabilities, we’ve expanded our product range to include a multi-asset offering, which further supports our focus on long-term solutions for clients”, said.

In addition to the Overall Fund Group Award, the Invesco Perpetual High Yield and Global Equity Income Funds were also award winners.

Lewis Aubrey-Johnson, Head of Fixed Income Products commented: “We’re delighted to have received this award from Lipper in recognition of the fund’s risk-adjusted performance. This is the third award for the Invesco Perpetual High Yield Fund in the last 12 months, and with the addition of Asad Bhatti as Deputy Fund Manager, we aim to maintain our strong investment track record in future years.”

On the award for the Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund, Chief Investment Officer Nick Mustoe said: “Where some equity income funds look to maximise income in the short term by focusing on the highest yielding parts of the market, this fund focuses on sustainable income. We refer to this approach as ‘quality income’ and as such, are pleased to learn that Invesco Perpetual Global Equity Income Fund is a top performer in the IMA Global Equity Income sector over five years in the UK. Over the long term, we employ a ‘quality income’ approach that seeks to deliver a diversified portfolio of stocks that provide an attractive mix of income, dividend growth and capital appreciation.”

Banque de Luxembourg’s Guy Wagner: “Global Economy in Danger of Slowdown”

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Despite the leading banks’ zero interest rate policy and weak oil prices, the global economy is in danger of a slowdown, according to Guy Wagner, Chief Investment Officer at Banque de Luxembourg and Managing Director of BLI – Banque de Luxembourg Investments, and his team, in the monthly market analysis, ‘Highlights’.

In the United States, the GDP increase in the 4^th quarter of 2014 was driven by domestic consumption, while investments and exports showed signs of weakness. “Outside the United States, economic activity is fragile in most regions,” says Guy Wagner. “In Europe and Japan, the recent slight improvement in the main economic indicators does not point to a significant upturn, given the weakness of the comparison bases.” In China, the slowdown in economic growth looks set to continue and could prompt the public authorities to embark on support measures in the coming weeks.

Government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance

The ECB’s pronouncement of a massive programme of quantitative easing has prompted a further fall in long rates, even though they were already extremely low. In the Eurozone, yields on 10-year government bonds fell in Germany, Italy and Spain. Bond yields have also dropped in the United States. “Despite the miserable level of long rates, government bonds continue to surprise with their extraordinary performance,” says the Luxembourg economist. “The only scenario in which government bonds can continue to pull off good surprises would be if negative interest rates were introduced on a grand scale by the central banks – something that cannot be excluded given the prospects of economic slowdown.”

Investors consider equities as the default investment

In January, stock market developments were largely determined by fluctuating currency values. The euro’s weakness helped the Stoxx 600 Index to grow in Europe, while Japan’s Topix and the MSCI Emerging Markets (in JPY and USD respectively) stagnated and the S&P 500 (in USD) fell. Guy Wagner: “Given the euro’s decline against the dollar and the yen, stock market investments produced particularly decent results for a European investor in January. In a zero interest rate environment, investors continue to view equities as the default investment despite the steady advance of deflationary pressures – well illustrated by the escalating devaluation race.”

The dollar’s upward march is likely to continue

In January, the euro fell sharply against the US dollar as a result of the ECB’s announcement of a massive programme of quantitative easing. “Although the dollar’s impressive rise in January would suggest a temporary period of stabilisation is due, the currency’s upward march is likely to continue until and unless a rise in US interest rates is called into question.”