Photo: Munerabig. Sura AM Grows 13.5% to 113.2 Billion Dollars in AuM
At the end of Grupo SURA‘s General Shareholders’ Meeting held in Medellin, the Company confirmed the excellent results obtained from its core strategy and announced that it shall continue to focus on growth through innovation, building greater synergies and expanding and developing its markets.
As the market was informed in recent days, one of the more important achievements last year in terms of the Company’s financial results was having obtained COP 781,794 million (USD 405.7 million) in net profits, for a YoY increase of 43.2 %. This was largely due to a 38.3% YoY increase in operating revenues totaling COP 924,511 million (USD 479.8 million). For its part, SURA Asset Management S.A., Grupo SURA’s subsidiary in the pension, savings and investment sector ended with COP 219.2 billion (USD 113.2 billion) in Assets Under Management for a YoY growth of 13.5%
Other important highlights included the following:
COP 437,433 million (USD 227.0 million) in earnings reported via the equity method, showing a growth of 35.9%, of which COP 213,295 million (USD 110.7 million) corresponded to Suramericana S.A. and COP 279,910 million (USD 145.3 million) to Sura Asset Management S.A.
In non-operating expenses, interest payable account fell by 47.9 % , given the Company’s lower level of indebtedness.
Total liabilities therefore declined by 14.1% to COP 762,782 million (USD 395.9 million) at year-end 2013.
Based on this level of results, the Shareholders approved a proposal submitted by the Company’s Board of Directors regarding a dividend increase of 15%, that is to say COP 390 per share over the upcoming 12-month period. Consequently, Grupo SURA shall be paying out a total of COP 255.498 million (USD 133 million) in shareholder dividends in the form of 4 quarterly installments.
Strategic Investments
For its part, SURA Asset Management S.A., Grupo SURA’s subsidiary in the pension, savings and investment sector ended with COP 219.2 billion (USD 113.2) billion in Assets Under Management for a YoY growth of 13.5%. As for its consolidated financial results, this Company posted operating revenues of COP 3.1 billion (USD 1.6 billion), which were 47.3% higher than for year-end 2012. Sura Asset Management S.A. continues to lead the Latin America Pension Fund market with a total of 16.7 million clients in 6 different countries, 9,822 employees and a market share of 23.4%.
Suramericana S.A., Grupo SURA’s Insurance and Social Security subsidiary, with a presence spanning 4 Latin American countries, reported COP 6.0 billion (USD 3.1 billion) in subsidiary income along with net subsidiary profits of COP 353 thousand million (USD 183 million). Its Shareholders’ Equity came to COP 2.1 billion (USD 1.1 billion) at year-end 2013. This level of performance, from both the financial and business standpoints continues to show SURA’s driving force within the Latin American insurance industry.
On the other hand, in 2013, the amount of international funds holding shares in Grupo SURA rose by 34% from 497 to 665. This reflects not just the Company’s robust financial position but also its adherence to high international standards which are important benchmarks for these firms to base their investment decisions.
Also, Grupo SURA was included for the third year running in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indices given its performance both at home and abroad. This sustainability index plays an important role on the global stock exchanges, given the growing importance amongst the worldwide investor community to receive feedback and assessments with regard to the long-term business models and practices of potential investees.
Grupo SURA also announced the progress made so far in getting ready for the changeover to the new IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) accounting system, as required by the Colombian Regulatory Agencies. Also it shall be working on implementing the Sarbanes Oxley Act, which shall allow it to deploy advanced Corporate Governance and Information Transparency practices, thereby complementing the Company’s efforts in this respect.
. Duff & Phelps Opens New Office in Spain and Underscores its Commitment to Growth in Europe
Duff & Phelps Corporation, a global valuation and corporate finance advisor, has announced the opening of a new office in Madrid, Spain. Managing Director Javier Zoido will serve as country leader for the new office.
Duff & Phelps works with many of the leading Spanish-listed companies, private equity firms and legal advisors. The new office in Madrid serves as a base in the region, from which to expand relationships with both existing and new clients. Mr. Zoido will drive growth of the business across Spain and serve as the primary contact for Duff & Phelps core services, notably valuation, restructuring and M&A advisory.
“The opening of our new office in Madrid underscores the firm’s commitment to growing our business in Europe,” said Jacob Silverman, President of Duff & Phelps. “As the economy improves in Spain we anticipate greater needs for our valuation and corporate finance advisory services in the market,” added Silverman.
“The new office in Madrid will enable us to better serve our clients in the region. Coverage of the Spanish market aligns very well with other European teams in our existing key markets,” added Yann Magnan, European Valuation Advisory Services leader.
Javier Zoido is a managing director in the Madrid office, country leader for Spain, and part of the Valuation Advisory Services business unit. He has more than 13 years of experience in valuation and corporate finance.
Javier has performed valuation assignments for the valuation of business enterprises, financial assets, equity securities and intangible assets. These valuations have been for the purpose of assisting clients in tax and financial planning and reporting, transaction advisory support, strategic planning and litigation support. His engagement highlights include purchase price allocations and asset valuations for financial reporting purposes under IFRS and US GAAP; intangible asset and goodwill impairment tests; equity and asset valuations for tax purposes; valuation of private equity portfolios; and fairness opinions.
Javier started his career at a Spanish consulting firm. In January 2001, he joined Ernst & Young Corporate Finance in Madrid, where he was a manager, before joining the London Office of Duff & Phelps in 2006 where he has held positions as Vice President, Director, and Managing Director. Javier received his master’s in finance from the Escuelas de Finanzas Aplicadas in Madrid, his bachelor’s in economics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has post/graduate courses in Harvard University. Javier is fluent in Spanish and English.
He has published articles, including “El proceso de purchase price allocation sus implicaciones para las empresas españolas: enfoque en los activos intangibles” Análisis Financiero Internacional – 1st Quarter, 2008.
Foto: Narch, Flickr, Creative Commons.. Luxemburgo da un paso adelante en transparencia fiscal con la firma de FATCA
The agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to improve international tax compliance and to implement FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) has been signed today, Friday March 28, 2014 in Luxembourg.
On 27 February 2014, the Luxembourg and United States negotiating teams agreed on the substance of the Model 1 Agreement.
ALFI welcomes the signature of this Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA).The association has been working hard to ensure that its members are best prepared for the implementation of FATCA. A Q&A document is being finalized by ALFI’s FATCA implementation working group. The working group comprises representatives of asset managers, management companies, securities service providers, audit firms, law firms, the Luxembourg Pension Funds Association and information management firms. The Q&A document will serve ALFI members as a reference document when it comes to implementing FATCA.
As part of the signing of the FATCA Model 1 intergovernmental agreement between Luxembourg and the United States dated 28 March 2014, the Luxembourg Tax Administration has set up two working groups bringing together different actors from the public and private sectors in order to implement the automatic exchange of information under this agreement.
The first working group focuses on general issues relating to the implementation of the agreement, while the second will deal mainly with technical questions regarding the electronic communication of information between reporting financial institutions and the Tax Administration (like communication channels, format etc.)
M&A Investors Luxembourg SA has launched its first Luxembourg-domiciled investment company, M&A Capital Fund SICAV- SIF SA. M&A Capital has scheduled the closing of its first sub fund, M&A Dynamic Return Europe Fund, for May 2014.
M&A Capital’s launch marks the expansion and continuation of the proven track record of M&A Investors Luxembourg SA fourteen years of investments throughout Europe. The investments of M&A Dynamic Return Fund will be managed by a dedicated team of experts comprised of the management of M&A Investors Luxembourg, which will co-invest equity in the fund, and renowned external real estate professionals based in Zurich, London, Luxembourg and Prague.
M&A Capital targets to raise Eur 100 million that will strategically be invested to provide capital-solutions to residential, commercial and mixed-use real estate developers with strong ongoing projects but requiring capital for completion. The Fund will invest in the forms of equity, preferred-equity and mezzanine loans in projects based in Switzerland and wealthy north European markets.
The fund will seek to generate premium returns through its expert added-value contributions by targeting wise investments and utilizing the team’s unparalleled network of local and global real estate and financial services professionals. M&A Capital has the unique ability to proactively source the best off-market deals before they become public.
“We aim to capitalize on the growing demand for capital in the real estate credit markets by providing capital to best in class developers, participating in the project management, and providing our financial engineering and deal structuring expertise for each investment development “, says Marc E. Cottino, Chairman of the Fund.
A resurgent construction industry, the U.S. energy renaissance, the evolution of technology and a second iteration of health care reform are likely to create opportunities for investors in 2014, according to the U.S. Small Cap Growth Team for The Boston Company Asset Management (TBC). TBC is BNY Mellon‘s Boston-based equity specialist.
The team published its forecast in Investment Themes for 2014. In addition to the four themes related to energy, construction, technology and health care, the small cap team also said it sees investment themes related to manufacturing and the rotation of funds into U.S. equity markets.
On the macro side, the report said that tapering of the quantitative easing program combined with a continuing accommodative monetary policy could reduce pressure on the dollar, help draw money into U.S. markets from emerging markets, and also help to reduce commodity prices. The team also said it expects that the prospect of rising interest rates could shift money from bonds to stocks.
Looking at specific sectors, the team cited the energy renaissance, driven by meaningful improvements in extracting hydrocarbons, as a major positive development. Todd Wakefield, senior portfolio manager on the small cap team, said, “We see the energy sector as a leader in job creation and capital spending. Furthermore, the country’s move toward energy self-sufficiency is resulting in structural changes to our trade deficit and foreign policy.”
Other factors worth considering for 2014, according to the report, are a potential increase in spending on both commercial and residential construction, in addition to continuing developments in technology.
Regarding housing, the TBC small cap team said the inventory overhang from the previous housing bubble has diminished, although household formation continues to be slowed by poor employment opportunities for the 25-to-34-year-old age group. Household formation is an important driver of housing, the report said. TBC said it expects improving employment in this age group will drive higher household formation, fueling housing demand.
Opportunities in technology
In technology, TBC sees growing opportunities in security, Big Data, cloud-based computing systems and social media technology. TBC also said it expects the Internet of Things to proliferate as more appliances, vending machines and other non-traditional computing devices are linked to the Internet so they can be better controlled and monitored remotely.
TBC said it also expects opportunities to develop in health care and manufacturing. “Millions of people are joining the health care system while reimbursement will be reduced for many providers as a result of the new regulation,” Wakefield said. “In the sector, we are focused on innovative companies that have pricing power.”
In manufacturing, the report notes that 3D printing has the potential to dramatically change production processes, although it will be difficult to select the firms that will dominate the business.
Photo: Milei.vencel . WE Family Offices Leads Miami RIAs with 2.7 Billion Dollars in Assets
With 2,7 billion dollars in assets under management WE Family Offices takes the leading spot amongst Miami’s RIAs (Registered Investment Advisor). According to BrightScope, the financial information company, the firm, which was founded just over a year ago by a large group of professionals from Genspring Family Offices, surpassed the figure of 2 billion dollars in assets under advisementjust six months after its launch in January 2013, and currently boasts 2.7 billion dollars.
Santiago Ulloa, president of WE Family Offices, explained to Funds Society in this respect that over the last 12 months, “we have worked to strengthen our team of consultants across the board, in the financial, family governance, and tax and estate planning areas. The team’s strength is helping us to grow rapidly, having experienced a growth of over 1 billion dollars in the past year.” Ulloa stated that theirs is a long term plan, however, and that they are not transferring any pressure at all in order to grow.
This year’s list of the top firms in Miami shows a strong increase in assets under management, “which proves that local investors’ confidence in the market has increased,” said Brooks Herman, BrightScope’s Managing Director for Data and Research. The previous list was published in 2012.
The second place, with 2.6 billion dollars under management, is held by Lipper Advisory Services, a company whose largest shareholders are A. Michael Lipper and Sean Walsh. Lipper Advisory Services provides management services to wealthy families, pension plans, and charitable organizations.
Lipper is renowned for being the promoter of the Lipper Growth Fund Index, the first of the current range of Lipper indices, which analyze the performance and average of various categories of mutual funds. After selling his firm to Thomson Reuters in 1998, Lipper has focused on managing investments for his friends and clients.
After Lipper, the third place in the list is held by Guggenheim Partners Latin America, with 1.6 billion dollars under management. Guggenheim Partners Latin America is an enterprise of Guggenheim Partners and certain former managers of Guggenheim Investment Advisors. The company offers wealth management and family office services to high net worth individuals and foundations. Guggenheim Partners is an independent and private firm.
Guggenheim is followed by Evensky & Katz with 759.1 million dollars; Genesis Investment Advisors, with 756 million; London and Capital Investment Advisors, with 605.7 million; Investor Solutions, with 604.9 million; Gentrust Wealth Management, with 523.9 million; Gables Capital Management, with 499.7 million and Foldes Financial Management, with 497.2 million dollars.
After the aforementioned companies the list is as follows:
Photo: wGiovanni Dall'Orto. Blackstone Closes $7 Billion European Real Estate Fund
Blackstone has announced that it has closed its fourth European Real Estate Fund at its cap of €5.1 billion ($7 billion). This makes it the largest ever dedicated European Real Estate fund.
Ken Caplan, Head of European Real Estate at Blackstone, said: “We are hugely grateful to our investors for their continued support. The fact that we raised €5 billion in just six months from first to final close is testament to the ability of Blackstone’s 60-strong team dedicated to investing in European Real Estate.
Caplan says they have had “a successful 17 year track record in Europe” and they are “excited about the opportunities to continue executing investments across Europe, delivering unparalleled speed and certainty to sellers and the expertise to add value to our properties.”
Foto cedida. Macquarie Mexican REIT cierra la compra del centro comercial City Shops del Valle
Macquarie Mexican REIT today announced that it has completed the acquisition of City Shops del Valle, a 15,914 square meter (171,297 square foot) retail center located in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, in Colonia del Valle.
MMREIT had previously announced in July 2013 its agreement to acquire City Shops del Valle as part of an acquisition of a portfolio of six properties. The acquisition of the City Shops del Valle property was conditioned upon completion of construction.
“We are pleased to add this new center to our portfolio of high-quality retail properties,” said Jaime Lara, Chief Executive Officer of MMREIT. “City Shops del Valle is an urban infill property strategically located in one of Mexico City’s most affluent neighborhoods where there is limited room for additional commercial development. The property includes strong anchor tenants serving the growing needs of the surrounding communities. We look forward to working closely with them to ensure that their property management needs are met and that their customers, in turn, have a rewarding shopping experience.”
Tenants of the City Shops del Valle retail center include Superama, Bed Bath & Beyond, Cinemex, and Sports World among others. The center is nearly fully leased with an occupancy rate of 99.6% as of March 2014.
MMREIT estimates that the six property portfolio will generate approximately Ps.246.8 million (US$19.0 million) of net operating income (NOI) and approximately Ps.157.5 million (US$12.1 million) of funds from operations (FFO) on an annualized basis. NOI includes forecast rental income plus maintenance recoveries and parking income, minus property operating expenses (including the estimated property administration fee) for the full year 2014. FFO is equal to NOI minus corporate general and administrative expenses, debt service and management fees. US dollar figures are based on an exchange rate of 13.00 Ps/USD.
MMREIT paid approximately Ps.2.8 billion (US$216.9 million) for the six properties, excluding transaction costs and taxes, with a potential earn-out of up to approximately Ps.84.4 million (US$6.5 million) payable to the sellers based on additional lease up. Property taxes and transaction costs totaled approximately Ps.200 million (US$15.4 million).
The transaction, including VAT, was funded with approximately Ps.257.4 million (US$19.8 million) of senior debt drawn on an existing facility with GE Capital Real Estate México (GECREM) and approximately Ps.364.3 million (US$28.0 million) of available cash. The GECREM facility bears interest at a rate of 90-day USD Libor + 3.85% per annum.
Following the closing of the acquisition, MMREIT’s portfolio consists of 259 industrial properties and 8 retail/office properties, totaling 2.7 million square meters (28.5 million square feet) and 253.1 thousand square meters (2.7 million square feet) of gross leasable area across Mexico, respectively.
. Amundi and Tikehau Sign Partnership Agreement to Push Private Debt Funds
Amundi y Tikehau today announced a strategic asset management partnership.The two companies will focus their cooperation on private debt management to offer institutional and retail clients high value-added products for their investment return needs in a low interest rates environment. Leveraging on its strong international presence, Amundi will provide its clients with access to Tikehau IM’s innovative and bespoke product range.
This agreement will enable Tikehau to accelerate the development of its asset management platform, Tikehau IM, targeting all client segments from retail clients to institutional investors and sovereign funds. Together, the two companies will also be able to launch new products marketed under the Amundi / Tikehau dual brand. Finally, both companies will jointly explore future avenues of cooperation in all their areas of expertise.
Under this partnership, and subject to the supervisory authorities’ approval, Amundi will acquire a 12.8% stake in the management company Tikehau IM, in line with long standing partner Arkéa, and become a shareholder of Tikehau Capital Advisors, the head structure of the Tikehau group, with 7.3% of the capital, alongside its Partners and Unicredit.
Yves Perrier, Chief Executive Officer, Amundi, said: “This partnership is perfectly in line with Amundi’s product policy, offering its clients a broad range of high-quality expertise tailored to the needs of each client segment. In addition to its in-house asset management, Amundi will be able to offer products from external partnerships. Since its creation, Tikehau has proven the excellence of its expertise and its innovation capacity, especially in private debt. Thanks to this agreement, Amundi, the European leader in Fixed Income with more than €400 billion assets under management, reinforces its private debt funds offering, which already represents €4 billion. This operation also confirms Amundi’s commitment to develop Paris’ asset management industry together with its most innovative entrepreneurial players.”
Antoine Flamarion, President and founder of the Tikehau group, declared: “This agreement marks a major milestone in the development of Tikehau. We are very pleased to welcome Amundi as a new strategic partner alongside our long-standing partners. As a player in Asset Management, Amundi has a reputation for excellence among investors. Together, we will be able to offer many clients bespoke, innovative and high value-added products, especially in the private debt area where Tikehau has established a renowned expertise in recent years in Europe.”
Enrique García Candelas, senior executive vice president and head of Santander España and Javier Marín, Banco Santander's CEO.. Santander Launches Santander Advance, a Global Strategy to Become SMEs’ Partner for Growth
Banco Santander’s CEO, Javier Marín, today announced the launch of Santander Advance, a project that places SMEs at the centre of the group’s business strategy and aims to make Santander their partner of choice for growth in all its markets. Under this initiative, which starts today in Spain and will be operating in all the group’s main markets by 2015, the bank expects to expand SME lending by more than 10% in each of its markets this year. It will also improve its internal processes to cut down response times and enable it to provide a more specialised service to the sector.
As well as the additional financing and specific product line for SMEs in each of its markets, Santander will offer a range of tools to help small companies develop and overcome obstacles to growth. For this, the bank is launching the Santander Advance Development programme with four basic pillars: recruitment and training, international expansion, employment and connectivity. The bank’s objective is to provide support to 200,000 companies under the Advance Development programme between 2014 and 2016.
With this project, which includes the group’s good practices in this segment of markets such as UK (Breakthrough), Santander aims to share the advantages of belonging to a global group with a strong international presence. As well as providing the services, products and tools that companies need to expand internationally, the bank will launch the Santander Passport in the next few months. This is an identifier that guarantees companies doing business abroad access to specialist local support and gives Santander customers the same advantages they’d have in their market at any of the group’s subsidiaries in other countries.
Santander’s chief executive Javier Marin said, “Santander Advance will become the new model for the whole group’s relationship with small and medium-sized companies. The bank is making progress in segmenting its business and deepening its focus on customers. It can now share with SMEs the advantages of being part of a well-capitalised and highly liquid international group, with a strong presence in key markets. SMEs are a strategic segment for Banco Santander and we want to be partners with them in their growth plans. We want more customers, who are also better linked and more satisfied”.
Within this comprehensive offer, Marín also announced the Advance Fund, a financing vehicle for medium- and long-term projects, mainly by investing in the SMEs through subordinated debt. It will start in Spain with EUR 250 million for projects of at least EUR 1 million. The model will then be extended to other markets.
Launch in Spain
Enrique García Candelas, senior executive vice president and head of Santander España, explained the plans for Spain, where the bank expects to provide EUR 30 billion of new lending, implying an increase of 24%. Its target is to grow its customers base by 22% on top of the 280,000 it already has (including small, medium and micro companies, but excluding retailers and the self-employed). The bank also wants to raise the number of linked customers by 29%. In addition to extra lending, lower interest rates for linked customers and competitively priced products designed specifically for SMEs, Santander España will make its approval processes more agile and provide specialist advisors exclusively for SMEs.
Regarding Santander Advance’s development programmes in 2014, over 20,000 SMEs will have access to training, internationalization and employment initiatives in Spain. Santander will offer 5,000 scholarships to university students for internships in SMEs.
“We have the most complete product range in the market,” García Candelas said. “We want to stand by SMEs as they grow, help them through all the financial and non-financial difficulties they encounter and accompany them in their internationalization.” To ensure the success of the strategy, Santander España has taken a number of specific steps in recent months to improve its model of customer service, its price and riskmanagement, its human resources structure, increasing the number of specialist sales staff for this segment, the technical platform and all the processes needed to guarantee faster response times.
Santander España will provide a digital platform, www.santanderadvance.com, where SMEs can find useful contents and tools to improve their training through online and classroom courses. The platform will provide information about credit lines and banking products, public sector financing available (through the European Investment Bank and Spain’s Official Credit Institute). It includes a link to www.santandertrade.com, a site designed for companies looking for opportunities in international markets.
