Standard Life Investments, the global asset manager and one of the largest real estate investors in Europe, has reached the maximum equity target it set for its second European Real Estate Club.
The new Standard Life Investments European Real Estate Club L.P. II (Euro Club II) has completed its final close, raising over €391 million of equity ($420.64 million as of Jan. 5th 2016) from 10 investment groups from five countries across three continents. Investors from the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia committed capital to the strategy. The Club will have an investment capacity of up to €790 million ($849.76 million), once the 50% target gearing is deployed. The seven-year closed end real estate investment vehicle focuses on buying commercial property in core markets – specifically France, Germany, Benelux and Scandinavia.
At final close, the Club had already completed the acquisition of six high quality assets, representing approximately 35% of total equity available:
An office in Paris, France
Hanse Forum, an office in Hamburg, Germany
Von-der-Tann, an office in Nuremburg, Germany
Regina, a retail and office property in Aarhus, Denmark
A logistics facility in Dusseldorf, Germany
An office in Aarhus, Denmark
Daniel McHugh, Head of Continental European Real Estate, Standard Life Investments, and Fund Manager for the Club said: “The investment thesis that underpins our first European real estate club has received tremendous support and we are delighted that most of our initial Euro Club investors decided to commit additional capital to this new vintage, along with a significant number of new international investors. “Our strategy is to deliver value-add returns from mispriced core quality real estate with measurable and manageable risk attached. The first Euro Club was fully invested within six months of the final close. For Euro Club II we already have an extensive deal pipeline that continues to build, given the momentum we have been able to establish in this extremely competitive market.”
The launch of Euro Club II responds to positive investor sentiment for the first €308m Standard Life Investments European Real Estate Club (Euro Club), which completed its final close in October 2014. This vehicle is now fully committed, having secured a total of 10 deals to date. It further reinforces Standard Life Investments’ long and successful track record in Europe where it launched one of the first pan-European balanced funds, the European Property Growth Fund, in 2001.
Foto: Youtube. Las diez sorpresas de 2016, según Byron Wien
Byron R. Wien, Vice Chairman of Multi-Asset Investing at Blackstone, issued his list of Ten Surprises for 2016. This is the 31st year Byron has given his views on a number of economic, financial market and political surprises for the coming year. Byron defines a “surprise” as an event that the average investor would only assign a one out of three chance of taking place but which Byron believes is “probable,” having a better than 50% likelihood of happening.
Byron started the tradition in 1986 when he was the Chief U.S. Investment Strategist at Morgan Stanley. Byron joined Blackstone in September 2009 as a senior advisor to both the firm and its clients in analyzing economic, political, market and social trends.
Byron’s Ten Surprises for 2016 are as follows:
1. Riding on the coattails of Hillary Clinton, the winner of the presidential race against Ted Cruz, the Democrats gain control of the Senate in November. The extreme positions of the Republican presidential candidate on key issues are cited as factors contributing to this outcome. Turnout is below expectations for both political parties.
2. The United States equity market has a down year. Stocks suffer from weak earnings, margin pressure (higher wages and no pricing power) and a price- earnings ratio contraction. Investors keeping large cash balances because of global instability is another reason for the disappointing performance.
3. After the December rate increase, the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates by 25 basis points only once during 2016 in spite of having indicated on December 16 that they would do more. A weak economy, poor corporate performance and struggling emerging markets are behind the cautious policy. Reversing course and actually reducing rates is actively considered later in the year. Real gross domestic product in the U.S. is below 2% for 2016.
4. The weak American economy and the soft equity market cause overseas investors to reduce their holdings of American stocks. An uncertain policy agenda as a result of a heated presidential campaign further confuses the outlook. The dollar declines to 1.20 against the euro.
5. China barely avoids a hard landing and its soft economy fails to produce enough new jobs to satisfy its young people. Chinese banks get in trouble because of non-performing loans. Debt to GDP is now 250%. Growth drops below 5% even though retail and auto sales are good and industrial production is up. The yuan is adjusted to seven against the dollar to stimulate exports.
6. The refugee crisis proves divisive for the European Union and breaking it up is again on the table. The political shift toward the nationalist policies of the extreme right is behind the change in mood. No decision is made, but the long-term outlook for the euro and its supporters darkens.
7. Oil languishes in the $30s. Slow growth around the world is the major factor, but additional production from Iran and the unwillingness of Saudi Arabia to limit shipments also play a role. Diminished exploration and development may result in higher prices at some point, but supply/demand strains do not appear in 2016.
8. High-end residential real estate in New York and London has a sharp downturn. Russian and Chinese buyers disappear from the market in both places. Low oil prices cause caution among Middle East buyers. Many expensive condominiums remain unsold, putting developers under financial stress.
9. The soft U.S. economy and the weakness in the equity market keep the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury below 2.5%. Investors continue to show a preference for bonds as a safe haven.
10. Burdened by heavy debt and weak demand, global growth falls to 2%. Softer GNP in the United States as well as China and other emerging markets is behind the weaker than expected performance.
Added Mr. Wien, “Every year there are always a few Surprises that do not make the Ten either because I do not think they are as relevant as those on the basic list or I am not comfortable with the idea that they are ‘probable.’”
Foto: Marc Ben Fatma. ALFI espera la aprobación de un régimen de fondos de Inversión alternativo en Luxemburgo
Up until now all unregulated investment sctructures in Luxembourg needed to have a company structure rather than a fund one, but the AIFMD has introduced the concept of “unregulated” AIFs which will benefit form a European marketing Passport.
The bill for this concept, the Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF) will run through the usual legislative process and is therefore still subject to change. A final text of the law might be adopted in the second quarter of 2016.
Denise Voss, Chairman of ALFI, explains: “The future Luxembourg RAIF Law will provide an additional – complementary – alternative investment fund regime which is similar to both the Specialised Investment Fund and SICAR regimes.”
Currently Luxembourg rules not only require the Luxembourg Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) to be authorised and regulated by the CSSF but also require the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), usually a Part II UCI, a SIF or a SICAR, to be authorised and supervised by the CSSF. The CSSF approves and supervises the Luxembourg AIFM and the Luxembourg AIF separately.
The new RAIF is an AIF that has very similar features to the Luxembourg SIFs and SICARs with the key difference that the RAIF does not need to be approved and is not supervised by the CSSF.
Jacques Elvinger, partner at Elvinger, Hoss & Prussen and Chairman of ALFI’s Regulation Advisory Board, highlights the benefits of the new regime: “Managers will benefit from a reduced time-to-market because the RAIF itself does not have to be approved by the Luxembourg regulator. Going forward, managers will be able to choose whether to set up their Luxembourg AIF as Part II UCI, SIF or SICAR if they or their investors prefer for the AIF to be supervised by the CSSF, or to set up their AIF as a RAIF, which does not need to be approved and supervised by the CSSF, with consequent time-to-market benefits.”
Claude Niedner, partner at the law firm Arendt & Medernach and Chairman of ALFI’s alternative investments committee, mentions that “the RAIF legislation will enable Luxembourg and foreign AIFMs to benefit from a flexible and innovative investment fund vehicle.”
In order to ensure sufficient protection and regulation via its manager, a RAIF must be managed by an authorised external AIFM. The latter can be domiciled in Luxembourg or in any other Member State of the EU. If it is authorised and fully in line with the requirements of the AIFMD, the AIFM can make use of the marketing passport to market shares or units of RAIFs on a cross-border basis. As is the case for Luxembourg SIFs and SICARs, shares or units of RAIFs can only be sold to well-informed investors.
“The new structure will complement our attractive range of investment fund products in Luxembourg and we believe this demonstrates the understanding the Luxembourg lawmaker has of the needs of the fund industry to best serve the interests of investors.“ concludes Denise Voss.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Yves Henri Bonzon dirigirá la recién creada división de gestión de inversiones (IM) de Julius Baer. J Safra Sarasin desmiente la compra de BSI a BTG Pactual
Yves Henri Bonzon chose to join Julius Baer after rejecting to join Swiss bank BSI (of BTG Pactual) as Chief Investment Officer.
According to a statement, “Julius Baer has decided to create the new division Investment Management (IM) to emphasise and further strengthen its commitment to achieve a consistently solid investment performance for its clients,” of which Bonzon will be in charge.
He will also become a member of the Executive Board of Bank Julius Baer as of February 1st, 2016. In this function he will report to CEO Boris F.J. Collardi. The new IM division will complement the existing division Investment Solutions Group (ISG) headed by Burkhard Varnholt. He and Yves Bonzon will be Co-CIOs.
Boris F.J. Collardi, CEO of Julius Baer, said: “I am delighted that Yves Bonzon has joined Julius Baer. He will be instrumental in further strengthening our expertise in managing our clients’ wealth and thus contribute to further consolidating our position as the international reference in private banking. Together with Burkard Varnholt’s ISG division, we will have two complementing, highly professional units that will jointly deliver best-in-class investment management to our clients.”
Foto: LinkedIn. Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira nombra consejero y director del negocio de Venture Capital a Brian Canida
Alvarez Arrieta & Diaz-Silveira, a Miami-based corporate boutique law firm specializing in international and domestic M&A, finance, real estate, immigration and private wealth services, announced the promotion of Brian Canida to counsel and head of the firm’s Venture Capital group.
“We are thrilled to have Brian lead our growing Venture Capital practice during such an exciting time for the tech industry here in Miami,” said Albert Diaz-Silveira, one of the firm’s founders. “Brian’s broad exposure to venture capital transactions – both here in South Florida and in the key startup hubs domestically and abroad – has allowed the firm to stay current with market terms and trends.”
Brian regularly represents emerging companies and investors on both ongoing and transaction-specific matters, including those related to corporate and securities law, venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, and technology transactions. He is also a venture capital investor and heavily involved in supporting the technology and venture capital ecosystem in South Florida and Latin America.
“I could not imagine a better opportunity than being able to counsel clients in such a dynamic field at a firm which is itself young and emerging,” said Brian Canida. “I look forward to continuing to help clients navigate the constantly changing venture capital industry.”
Prior to joining AADS, Canida was a corporate associate in the New York office of the international law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP for several years. He graduated from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2007 with a B.S.F.S. in International Economics. After completing an investment banking internship with Deutsche Bank AG, Brian continued his post-graduate studies at Georgetown and graduated with a J.D. from Georgetown Law in 2010, while also receiving a Certificate in Emerging Markets and Country Risk Analysis from Fordham University’s Graduate International Political Economy & Development Program.
In addition to serving as an active member of the Cuban American Bar Association, Brian also provides services to the Dade Legal Aid Venture Law Project, a pro bono legal services clinic for local entrepreneurs. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and is admitted to practice law in the states of Florida and New York.
Foto: Nick Harris
. Jefferies WM se asocia con Envestnet para mejorar y racionalizar sus negocios de Wealth Management
Envestnet has begun working with Jefferies Wealth Management to strengthen its service and product offerings. Jefferies Wealth Management, part of global investment banking firm Jefferies Group, is utilizing the Envestnet platform to update its technology, offer a wider array of investment products and solutions, and create operational efficiencies which allow its advisors to devote more time to client engagement and portfolio management.
“By providing Jefferies Wealth Management with access to a broader suite of investment products and programs through a fully integrated platform, we can empower its team with more options to both improve client outcomes and meet clients’ evolving needs,” said John Yackel, Managing Director and Head of Global Institutional Business Development at Envestnet. “We look forward to helping place the team in a stronger position to recruit and retain top advisors—and continue to flourish as a key part of a global investment bank.”
New York based Jefferies Wealth Management, which harnesses the power of its parent firm’s global investment bank to meet its clients’ needs, will leverage the Envestnet platform to offer clients access to best-in-class separately managed accounts, unified managed accounts, and fund strategist portfolio programs—as well as to simplify multi-currency reporting for international clients.
Foto: Kreg Steppe
. Norteamérica lidera las adquisiciones respaldadas por private equity
Private equity-backed buyout deal activity saw continued growth in 2015, as 3,546 deals were recorded totalling $409bn. This represents an 18% increase on the $348bn of private equity-backed deals in 2014, and it is the sixth consecutive year in which global deal value has increased. These figures are expected to rise by a further 10-20% as more data becomes available, says Preqin.
Large cap deals in North America are the main source of this growth, with six of the 10 biggest deals in 2015 taking place in the region. Overall, North America saw $255bn of private equity-backed buyout deals take place, up 35% from the $189bn of deals recorded in 2014. Overall, deals worth $1bn or more accounted for 9% of the total number of deals globally and 70% of the aggregate deal value, up from 52% in 2014.
The number of private equity-backed deals was 3,546, down slightly from the 3,797 deals recorded in 2014. However, given that Preqin projects these figures to rise by 10-20% as new information becomes available, deal flow in 2015 looks set to be on a par with previous years.
Aggregate buyout deal value in Europe was $90bn in 2015, down slightly from $95bn the previous year. Total deal value in Asia stayed level, with $45bn of deals recorded in 2015, compared with $46bn in the previous year.
Partly fuelled by acquisitions such as EMC/Dell, add-on deals accounted for 39% of total buyout deal value in 2015, up from 19% in 2014. LBO deals also accounted for 39% of global deal value. Both deal types each also accounted for just fewer than 40% of the total number of deals recorded in 2015.
Total levels of uncommitted capital available to buyout fund managers have continued to climb through 2015, and are approaching the record levels seen in 2008-2009. As of the end of 2015, total buyout dry powder stands at $461bn.
“2015 has been a record year for global M&A, and this has been reflected within the private equity universe.The global buyout market recorded its sixth consecutive year of increases in aggregate deal value, with a surge in the number and value of large cap deals. North America drove this increase in activity as the overall buyout deal value there rose by over a third from 2014’s total, and the region saw the largest ever private equity-backed deal with the acquisition of EMC by Dell Inc. Dry powder has increased by $12bn over the course of 2015 however this represents a slow-down in the rate of dry powder growth over recent years. This is an encouraging sign as, despite concerns over valuations, managers have been able to find attractive investment opportunities and put investor capital to work.” Said Christopher Elvin, Head of Private Equity Products, Preqin
Foto: Enrique Dans
. Legg Mason lanza sus primeros ETFs
Legg Mason announced that it has launched four new outcome-oriented index-based ETF fundsin partnership with its investment affiliate QS Investors. The four funds are branded under the Legg Mason name and began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on December 29, 2015.
Increasing concerns about macroeconomic risks, equity volatility and the continuing search for stable income are pressuring investors to look beyond traditional market cap weighted indices.
“We are excited to partner with Legg Mason to bring an investment approach we developed for institutions over a decade ago to retail investors in an ETF fund format. Many investors think of ETFs only as market cap indexed vehicles, but our macro diversification and sustainable income approaches target specific investment outcomes in a cost-effective format. This launch is part of our long-term focus on innovating to serve investor needs and create better solutions,” said James Norman, President of QS Investors.
Three of the new funds take a macro approach to building portfolios and balancing risk to deliver broad market exposure that can complement core portfolios. Based upon QS Investors’ proprietary rules-based methodology, Diversification Based Investing (DBI), the new funds are predicated on the understanding that capitalization-weighted indices are not balanced across opportunities and risks in the market place. Better diversification across macro exposures, like geography and economic sector can improve risk/return characteristics and mitigate unintended bets and therefore potentially lower drawdowns during macro-economic events. The funds are:
Legg Mason Developed Ex-US Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason Emerging Markets Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason US Diversified Core ETF
Legg Mason is launching a fourth fund, the Legg Mason Low Volatility High Dividend ETF, focused on income, risk mitigation and capital appreciation. It is based upon the idea that a stock’s ability to sustain a strong dividend payout is often associated with lower volatility, making these two characteristics complementary. Using a disciplined, rules-based methodology, the fund will screen for stocks with the potential for sustainable high dividends, while simultaneously screening out historically volatile stocks in the market.
“There are compelling opportunities to help investors achieve their objectives, whether capital preservation, income, or growth in an ETF format as the market grows and the ETF vehicle evolves. These innovative, outcome-oriented products have the potential to serve the needs of investors looking to better diversify across risks in their portfolios. We are excited to begin building our ETF offering and will continue to identify ways in which we can capitalize on the investment strengths of the Legg Mason investment affiliates,” said Rick Genoni, Head of the ETF business at Legg Mason.
The firm plans to launch additional ETF products in the coming months.
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrFoto: Gary Buxton, nuevo director financiero de Source. Gary Buxton asume el puesto de director financiero en Source
Source, one of the largest providers of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) in Europe, announced on Wednesday the appointment of Gary Buxton as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer. “Buxton has been an integral part of Source since the company was founded and will continue in his role as Chief Operating Officer as well as a member of the firm’s management committee,” a press release mentioned.
Lee Kranefuss, Source Chairman, said of the appointment: “In undertaking the search for a CFO, we wanted someone who could combine financial and tax expertise with the ability to think strategically and understand not only the specifics of the ETF industry but also the unique aspects of Source. Fortunately for us, we had the ideal candidate already here. Gary comes from an accountancy background and, since joining Source, has been heavily involved with almost every function within the business. In fact, Gary was the very first person employed by Source. When a company is going through a growth phase, as Source is now, it helps to have a certain amount of continuity, which Gary brings. The qualities he brings to the role of CFO also illustrate the depth of expertise we have available to us at the firm.”
Buxton will continue with his responsibilities in the Investment Management Group and Capital Markets. These include overseeing new product execution, trading, risk management and operations.
Buxton began his career at the accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche. He has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Bristol and is a chartered accountant.
Bank Julius Baer informed that it has appointed Torsten Linke as Head Private Banking South East Asia with immediate effect. Subject to regulatory approval, he will also become Branch Manager Singapore. He will be responsible for Julius Baer’s operations and development in Singapore and expanding the Bank’s business presence and client base in South East Asia. He will report to Jimmy Lee, Head Asia Pacific at Bank Julius Baer.
Torsten Linke joins Julius Baer with 30 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining the Bank, he was Market Leader Indonesia at Credit Suisse. Before that, he was Market Manager for Indonesia at Standard Chartered Private Bank from 2009. Previously he held a number of senior leadership and management roles at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management during 24 years in Singapore, London, Frankfurt and Hamburg, including Head Strategy and Business Development for South East Asia, Deputy Head South East Asia and Market Manager for Indonesia. He has lived in Singapore for more than 13 years, first from 2001 to the end of 2004 and then again since 2006.
David Lim, currently Head Private Banking South East Asia and Branch Manager Singapore, will become Vice Chairman South East Asia to focus on deepening and broadening Julius Baer’s client relationships. He will also continue to contribute his wealth of expertise by providing advice on strategic initiatives. In this new role, he will report directly to Jimmy Lee.
“Our South East Asia and Singapore businesses have seen significant growth in recent years. We are strongly committed to these markets. We are pleased to welcome Torsten to take on this important role. At the same time, I would also like to thank David for his strong contribution in the past years and for taking up new responsibilities. Since joining the Bank in 2006, David has been instrumental in building up the Julius Baer franchise in South East Asia and Singapore and has played a pivotal role in the successful integration of the Merrill Lynch International Wealth Management business in Singapore,” said Jimmy Lee.
