Foto: Phil Whitehouse. Los flujos de fondos podrían apoyar la deuda de mercados emergentes
Outflows from emerging market debt during the 2013-2014 correction amounted to a significant US$31 billion. In the subsequent months, Investec AM has been encouraged by sustained inflows into the asset class as investors re-engaged with the asset class, attracted by the higher yields on offer. Certainly Investec’s own investor base has added to their holdings on average and new institutional clients have entered the asset class over the past year.
The period of continuous inflows came to an end in August, with some outflows from hard currency debt. According to the asset manager, this is entirely healthy – the asset class had performed well and some profit taking was inevitable – and it is likely there will be more two way movements in flows in the coming months.
While Investec AM does not expect 2015 industry net flows to reach the heady $40 to 80 billion levels, they do expect a gradual improvement. Given the scale of the 2013-2014 sell-off, the asset manager still views overall positioning as relatively light and expects supportive flows from institutional investors, particularly in the US, who are expected to address their under-allocation to the asset class. The broader reform agenda across many emerging markets should also help to sustain positive investor sentiment and encourage flows into emerging markets assets.
You may access the full report by Investec AM through this link.
Marathon Asset Management, a New York-based global investment advisor overseeing approximately $12.5 billion in assets, has announced that Diego Gradowczyk, former Head of Emerging Markets Trading at Barclays Plc, has joined the firm as a Senior Managing Director and co-Head of Emerging Markets. In his new role, Gradowczyk will co-run the firm’s emerging markets group with Partner and group co-Lead, Gabriel Szpigiel and be a member of the firm’s executive committee. Marathon also announced that it has added Andrew Szmulewicz, a former Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Chase in the Global Index Research Group, to its emerging markets team.
A focus of the firm since its inception in 1998, Marathon’s Emerging Markets Group is comprised of a highly experienced global team of professionals in the firm’s New York, London and Singapore offices. The group takes an opportunistic, flexible approach to capitalize on the wide array of opportunities available across the different emerging market geographies, including Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia.
“Emerging markets is one of our core competences and main strategic areas of focus,” said Louis Hanover, co-Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer for Marathon Asset Management. “We are highly committed to continually looking for ways to strengthen this team to provide our clients with best-in-class investment opportunities. Adding these two extremely accomplished individuals is a testament to this promise and will help us ensure we continue to deliver cutting-edge investment ideas in this space.”
“We are very excited to announce the addition of Diego and Andrew, two very high-caliber investment professionals, to our emerging markets team,” said Gabriel Szpigiel, Partner and Co-Head of Emerging Markets for Marathon Asset Management. “Together, they will help us increase our franchise and investing capabilities in these geographical regions. We look forward to integrating Diego and Andrew into our team and working with them to grow our business.”
Gradowczyk added: “This is an amazing opportunity and I am extremely honored to join a world class firm like Marathon Asset Management. Right now is an exciting time in emerging markets and I am greatly looking forward to working together with Gabriel and the rest of the team to help grow the firm’s emerging markets business.”
With more than two decades of experience working in the space, Gradowczyk brings a tremendous amount of emerging markets investing experience to Marathon. After joining Barclays in 2001, he ran the firm’s Emerging Markets Trading desk for nearly ten years. Prior to Barclays, Gradowczyk was a partner and portfolio manager at Compass Group, a New York-based investment management firm focused on emerging markets.
Szmulewicz previously worked in J.P. Morgan Chase’s Global Index Research group, where he contributed to many of the firm’s emerging market indices, including being a key contributor to the CEMBI index.
Barclays has today announced that Akshaya Bhargava has been appointed as Chief Executive of Wealth and Investment Management. He will join Barclays on 13 October 2014.
With over 35 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Akshaya joins from InfraHedge which he founded in 2010 and was acquired by State Street Corporation at the end of 2013. Prior to this he was CEO of Butterfield Fulcrum Group and founding CEO of Infosys BPO. He spent 22 years at Citibank, leading teams in London, India and the Czech Republic.
Announcing the appointment, Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said:
“I’m delighted that Akshaya is joining to lead our Wealth and Investment Management business. Akshaya brings with him deep management experience and a strong track record of business development and growth. Appointing Akshaya, with his breadth of global financial services knowledge and experience in creating bespoke investment platforms, is a significant coup for the business.
“The wealth management industry is evolving and clients’ needs are changing. A leader who can drive success through transformational times and harness new technologies to enhance the client experience will help to position Barclays at the forefront of this industry revolution.”
Akshaya Bhargava, Chief Executive, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, said:
“Barclays Wealth and Investment Management is well placed to deliver a market leading set of global banking and investment solutions to high net worth clients. This is an exciting time to be joining Barclays and I feel privileged to be taking charge of the next chapter in the growth and evolution of the business.”
Akshaya began his career at Citibank in India in Operations and Relationship Management roles before moving into Transaction Services, based out of London. He was Chairman and Country Manager of Citibank in the Czech Republic for four years, before heading back to London as Global Product Management Head for Small Business Banking.
After 22 years with Citibank, he was approached by Infosys to set up a Business Process Outsourcing offering in India. He led the business from a start up to No 7 rank in the industry in four years by focusing on the more complex and high value segment of the market. After Infosys absorbed the business in 2006, he took on the CEO role for the hedge fund administrator Butterfield Fulcrum. He saw the business through the financial crisis, restructuring it into a profitable business. In 2010 he set up InfraHedge, a hedge fund managed account platform, which was acquired by State Street Corporation at the end of 2013.
Akshaya graduated in India with a BA in Economics and MBA in Finance and Marketing. At State Street Bank he holds the following 3 active authorisations from the FCA – CF1 (Director), CF3 (Chief Executive) and CF30 (Customer).
. CONSAR Approves the Funding of the Mandate Awarded by Afore Banamex to Pioneer Investments
CONSAR, the Mexican regulatory authority for pension funds, has given the green light to the funding of US$400mn for the European equity mandate which Afore Banamex awarded to Pioneer Investments in October 2013. The total amount of the mandate, which was also awarded to BlackRock, BNP Paribas, Franklin Templeton, and Schroders, is for US$1bn. As Gustavo Lozano, director of Pioneer Investments in Mexico, confirmed to Fund Pro, the contract between the asset management company and the Afore will be signed this week.
Pioneer Investments is the second firm which obtains the funding of a mandate, after the two Afore Banamex mandates awarded to Schroders, in global and European equities, which have been funded already.
Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with Funds Society, Gustavo Lozano expressed his great satisfaction at having received authorization for this mandate by the regulator as “that means that a Mexican Afore now has two managers,” adding that “in two to three weeks, once the contract is signed, the transfer of funds will occur.”
CONSAR’s president, Carlos Ramirez Fuentes, has reaffirmed an opinion which he has already stated on other occasions, that the mandates are an important vehicle for diversifying the management of Afore’s assets, but that the process should be more streamlined. In this case, although the mandate was awarded a year ago, they have been unable to fund it until now, so a very significant part of the rally experienced by European equities has been missed. Gustavo Lozano commented to Funds Society in this regard that all parties involved “have learnt a lot from this process and are working in conjunction with authorities, the different funds, and the asset management firms so that these investment projects become more agile and may be funded within a maximum period of six months from time of awarding.”
As was disclosed to Funds Society, certain constraints and problems posed by State Street, the mandate’s trustee and liquidator, have been the main cause of the delay in this particular case. Pioneer Investment was also awarded a global equities mandate by Afore Sura totaling US$700mn, for which BlackRock, Investec AM, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management were also selected.
Julius Baer is the exclusive Global Partner of the new FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric racing series. The inaugural championship, which starts in Beijing on 13 September 2014, includes 10 races in major cities around the globe. For Julius Baer, Formula E with its visionary approach and global reach is an ideal sponsorship platform as it stands for many values Julius Baer shares, such as innovation, sustainability and forward-looking pioneering spirit. The Bank will leverage the sponsorship for high-class client events and a wide range of marketing activities.
The FIA Formula E Championship is the world’s first fully-electric racing series, created by the International Automobile Federation FIA. It represents a vision for the future of the motor industry over the coming decades, serving as a framework for research and development around the electric vehicle, accelerating general interest in these cars and promoting sustainable and innovative technologies.
From September 2014 to June 2015, the championship will compete in the centre of 10 of the world’s leading cities – including Beijing, London, Berlin, Monte Carlo and Buenos Aires – racing around their iconic landmarks. For the inaugural season, 10 teams, each with two drivers, will go head-to-head, including among others former Formula 1 drivers Lucas di Grassi, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli, Sébastien Buemi, Nelson Piquet Jr and Bruno Senna as well as two female drivers, Michela Cerruti and Katherine Legge. There will be both a drivers’ and a teams’ championship.
All Formula E races will be one-day events on city-centre circuits with practice, qualifying and the race taking place on a single day in order to minimise disruption to the host city. The races will begin by standing start and last for approximately one hour with drivers making one mandatory pit stop in order to change cars. The cars have a maximum speed of 225 km/h and are at top speed slightly louder than an ordinary car.
Starting with the first race in Beijing on 13 September 2014, Julius Baer will be the exclusive Global Partner of Formula E. Its logo will be prominently shown both on the cars and on the race tracks. For the Bank, Formula E with its visionary approach and global reach is an ideal sponsorship platform as the new race series stands for many values Julius Baer shares, such as innovation, sustainability and forward-looking pioneering spirit.
“We are excited to support the FIA Formula E Championship as its exclusive Global Partner. This gives us the unique opportunity to get involved in the world’s first fully-electric racing series which fosters innovation towards more sustainable means of transport. Formula E provides us with a first-rate global platform to share this bold vision with our clients,” said Boris F.J. Collardi, Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer.
Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Julius Baer to the Formula E family and to see their commitment and support to clean energy and sustainability. To be able to announce a major global partner of this stature on the eve of the first race is very exciting, and shows the continued strength and momentum of the series.”
Will Miami bankers have to worry soon about their foreign clients’ tax bills abroad?
That certainly seemed to be the shared opinion of a panel of banking regulation experts, including two officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who spoke about tax compliance and money laundering at a conference Tuesday.
Speaking at a wealth management forum sponsored by the Florida International Bankers Association, banker John Ryan suggested attorneys and investment advisers involved in managing money for overseas clients should pay close attention to international guidelines adding criminal sanctions for institutions facilitating foreign tax evasion, according to an article published in the Daily Business Review.
In particular, Ryan said the banking world should take note of the Financial Action Task Force of the nongovernmental Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which in February 2012 recommended “countries apply the crime of money laundering to all serious offenses, with a view to including the widest range of predicate offenses.”
In layman’s terms, the recommendations treat international tax evasion as money laundering, which financial institutions have a responsibility to prevent and report, says the Daily Business Review.
“The question really today is what this new OECD standard could be,” said Ryan, president of Geneva-based CISA Trust Co.
Lourdes Gonzalez, associate chief counsel in the SEC’s division of market regulation, agreed with Ryan, saying that while the OECD recommendations have not been formally adopted, they “influence how U.S. law develops in the anti-money laundering area.”
Ryan reiterated the adoption of the recommendations would be a sea change for the way money managers deal with their foreign clients.
“Not so long ago when a client came to New York or Miami and created an account, very little was taken into account as to what their tax situation was back home,” he said. “If the OECD regulations are adopted here in the U.S., many of these assets will be visible to authorities back home.”
Enforcement of cross-border tax evasion has evolved rapidly in recent years. In the U.S., the Obama administration has pressed for disclosure of offshore tax havens and implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Law.
The 2010 law forces foreign banks to dig deeper into their records to report any U.S. beneficiaries who might be using foreign banks to shelter themselves from U.S. taxes. The law took effect earlier this year and has prompted other countries to demand “some reciprocity but certainly not symmetry,” Ryan said.
Also on the panel was Eric Bustillo, director of the SEC‘s regional office in Miami. He said his agency is increasingly focused on stemming possible fraud in the EB-5 visas-for-bucks investment program.
Miami recently became a regional investment center that allows city government to facilitate investment initiatives under the program.
“The message that we want to get out there is that investors have to be very careful before investing in one of these,” Bustillo said.
Deutsche Bank today announced that Lilian Camera has joined as Head of Client Development for Multinational Corporates, Latin America.
In this new role, Camera reports to Kika Ricciardi, Head of Global Transaction Banking Latin America and Head of Trade Finance and Cash Management Corporates for Latin America. She is based in Sao Paulo.
“Delivering innovative solutions that anticipate and exceed the complex needs of our clients remains the cornerstone of our Global Transaction Banking strategy and value proposition in Latin America,” said Ricciardi. “Lilian’s decades of experience as a senior relationship manager across a broad range of corporate clients operating in Latin America position her well to further develop our trade finance and cash management offering to multinational corporates in the region.”
Camera joins Deutsche Bank after 14 years at Citigroup where she was most recently the Director and Team Leader of their Global Subsidiaries Group covering corporate clients in the Consumer & Healthcare; Tech, Media & Telecom; and Agrochemicals industries.
Foto: Barcex . Borja Arteaga y Albert Fernández se suman a Blackstone Advisory Partners en Madrid
The Blackstone Group announces that it is expanding and strengthening its international Blackstone Advisory Partners network with the appointment of Borja Arteaga as Senior Managing Director and Albert Fernandez as Managing Director to be based in Madrid. Mr. Arteaga will be heading Blackstone’s restructuring and M&A advisory business in the Iberian Peninsula.
John Studzinski, Global Head of Blackstone Advisory Partners commented: “Borja and Albert have outstanding reputations as advisors in Spain. They understand the corporate landscape and its particular requirements, and have excellent relationships with all the major corporates and investors, having been involved in many high profile situations. We look forward to working closely with them and believe that Spain has excellent prospects for Blackstone both from an advisory and an investing standpoint.”
Martin Gudgeon, Head of Blackstone’s European Restructuring Group, added: “We are very pleased that Borja and Albert have joined Blackstone to lead our advisory offering in the Iberian Peninsula. We know they will be welcomed by our clients in this important strategic development of our business.”
Borja Arteaga has over 20 years of corporate finance advisory experience in the Spanish market. He has been at Rothschild for the past 13 years and most recently was co-heading the Spanish operations. Prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs and Santander. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a double major in law and business from ICADE in Madrid.
Albert Fernandez has been at Rothschild for the past eight years and, prior to that, worked at McKinsey and JP Morgan. He has an MBA from Darden and a major in industrial engineering from UPC in Barcelona.
Together, they have led a number of high profile transactions in Spain and focused on M&A, restructuring, equity and refinancing transactions for corporates across a wide range of sectors including consumer, healthcare, retail, media and infrastructure sectors as well as for financial sponsors. Recent transactions in which they have been involved include: the investment of Eurazeo in Desigual; the merger of the Iberian Coca Cola bottlers; the refinancing of Prisa; the public offer for Campofrio; Doughty Hanson’s investments in Quiron, USP and Teknon; and Santander’s investment in Bank of Shanghai.
The team in Madrid will be reinforced with Juan Sierra. Mr. Sierra has been with Blackstone Advisory Partners since 2008 and has already relocated to Madrid. He has advised on a wide range of M&A and restructuring assignments including advising on the sale of Mivisa to Crown Holdings, Actavis on its sale to Watson Pharmaceuticals, Essentra on the acquisition of Contego Healthcare, BAA on its strategic refinancing alternatives, buyVIP! on its sale to Amazon.com and Preem bondholders on the company’s 2012 refinancing.
Foto cedidaIván Sainz de la Mora liderará la firma.. ivan
Willis’s Global Wealth Solutions (GWS) practice, which offers life insurance solutions to High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI), has recently opened a new office in Miami, its first in the Americas.
The city is the regional financial hub for HNWI, and offers access to LatAm, Caribbean and North American clients and prospects.
This is the latest step in the growth story of GWS, which earlier this year acquired specialist broker Charles Monat Limited, and also has teams in Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich.
The GWS Miami team is made up of three people (see picture), including Alejandro Gil Rivero, Senior Vice President, who has relocated from Zurich. They will share the current Willis office space in Miami.
He said: “There are exciting times ahead. The financial community in Miami is welcoming our value proposition as no other broker in the region can match Willis’s capabilities in terms of total risk management. Our proposition not only includes life and annuity solutions, but through other practices within the Willis Group, private banking clients can access a wider base of risk management solutions such as insurance for superyachts, private aviation, kidnap and ransom, art and jewellery, health and other lines.”
“Our short term strategy is to consolidate existing relationships with some top tier banks, as well as recruiting the best life and wealth advisers in the area. In the long run we aim to become market leader in the ultra-high net worth life insurance segment.”
Roger Lorenzo and Armando Gutierrez are also part of the GWS Miami team, along with Stephanie Adams, who is based in Boston. The teamis offering a wide portfolio of life insurance products, including universal life, term, and variable life, from both US and international providers.
Islamorada. Foto: Cecil Sanders. The Carlyle Group sigue sumando hoteles a su cartera de Los Cayos de Florida
Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has announced the acquisition of two Florida Keys hotels in Islamorada – the Postcard Inn Beach Resort at Holiday Isle and La Siesta Resort. The two hotels join the Islamorada Resort and Pelican Cove Resort & Marina in Carlyle’s Islamorada hotel portfolio. The four properties will form the newly created Islamorada Hotel Company and be managed by Trust Hospitality. Equity for the transactions comes from Carlyle Realty Partners VII, a $2.34 billion U.S. real estate fund.
Postcard Inn is a 151-room resort at Mile Marker 84 in Islamorada. The oceanfront resort is an iconic property featuring eclectic guestrooms, the largest private beach in Islamorada, watersports, two pools, ocean-side marina and a variety of food and beverage options, including the World Famous Tiki Bar. La Siesta is an all-suite beach hotel on six tropical acres on the Oceanside of Islamorada at Mile Marker 80.2. The hotel features cottages with full kitchens and complimentary use of kayaks and bicycles.
The Postcard Inn will undergo renovations beginning with upgrades to guest bathrooms, which are scheduled to begin by the end of the year. Improvements to common areas, the marina, and food and beverage options will begin in 2015. La Siesta’s renovations will start in late 2015 and will also include a refresh of the guestrooms and common areas. In total, Carlyle plans approximately $18 million in renovations to the Postcard Inn and La Siesta.
“As a Miami-based hotel management company, we are thrilled to further expand our portfolio into the Florida Keys,” said Patrick Goddard, president & COO of Trust Hospitality. “We’re eager to bring a new level of service and style to the Postcard Inn and La Siesta Resort while providing guests and locals a new and vibrant way to experience Islamorada. No significant changes to staffing levels are anticipated.”
“These Islamorada properties are in high quality locations and have significant upside potential following renovations and management enhancements,” said Thad Paul, Managing Director at The Carlyle Group. “With the planned changes, we’re confident that guests and the residents of Islamorada will continue to embrace the properties and support tourism efforts on Islamorada.”
Over the last year, The Carlyle Group‘s U.S. realty funds also purchased the Pelican Cove Resort and Islamorada Resort and both properties are currently undergoing major renovations. Pelican Cove Resort & Marina was acquired in September 2013 and began renovations on the 63-room property earlier this year. Major guestroom and common area renovations are scheduled to be completed in November 2014.
Islamorada Resort, previously a Hampton Inn, was acquired by Carlyle in February 2014 and is currently undergoing interior and exterior renovations. The resort will re-launch as a boutique upscale hotel at the end of 2014 under the new name of Amara Cay Resort.
