Pension funds globally say they intend to adopt a more proactive approach to managing their assets, according to a new report by State Street Corporation. “Pensions Funds DIY: A Hands-On Future for Asset Owners,” highlights the key trends that are reshaping how pension funds manage their investments operating models and deliver long-term value to members. The report is based on a research survey of more than 100 pension fund executives conducted in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Driving this change is the challenge of building a holistic view of risk across a multi-asset portfolio while aggregating risk data from multiple managers, aligning interests and managing costs. “Pension funds’ desire to deliver strong investment returns to their participants coupled with improved oversight and governance and is leading to a need for more in-house accountability for asset and risk management,” said Martin J. Sullivan, head of Asset Owner sector solutions for North America, State Street. “However, this undertaking requires pension funds to carefully evaluate how to achieve a balance of in-house and external talent, tools and technologies.”
Some key trends that emerged from the research include:
A majority of pension fund respondents (81 percent) indicate they are exploring bringing more asset management responsibilities in-house over the next three years. This is due in part to cost concerns, with 29 percent indicating it is a challenge for them to justify the fees of their asset managers.
As part of this shift, a majority of pension funds (53 percent) are expecting to use more lower-cost strategies to achieve desired investment outcomes, as well as expanding the number of technology platforms and software solutions they employ (43 percent).
More than half (51 percent) of funds place a high priority on strengthening their governance over the next three years.
“While the largest and most sophisticated funds can handle most aspects of multi-asset class portfolios in-house, the majority of pension funds will need to make a choice about where to be a specialist and when a sub-contractor is needed,” continued Sullivan. “This shift underscores pension funds’ need for new, more collaborative partnerships with asset managers who can offer them transparency and effectively tailor investment ideas and solutions to their unique needs.”
On behalf of State Street, the EIU conducted a global survey of institutional asset owners during July and August of 2014. The survey garnered 134 responses from pension fund executives, spanning both defined contribution and defined benefit assets. Forty-two percent of respondents were from the Americas, 36 percent from Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and 22 percent from Asia Pacific. Just over half (52 percent) of respondents came from public sector pension funds, 31 percent from private sector pension systems and 16 percent from superannuation funds.
MUFG Union Bank, N.A., has announced that Mike Feldman has been named Head of Branch and Private Banking. In his expanded role, he will manage Private Banking, through which the bank offers a variety of services for affluent individuals, families, businesses and organizations. Based in Orange County, he continues to report to Pierre P. Habis, who heads MUFG Union Bank’s Consumer and Business Banking groups.
“Mike is a proven leader, and his extensive experience and success leading investment services and licensed banker programs made him the obvious choice to lead Private Banking,” says Habis. “Mike will work with me and other senior leaders to help manage the bank’s affluent strategy and ensure that we offer best-in-class products and services to this valued segment.”
Feldman will continue to oversee the bank’s network of more than 400 retail branches in California, Oregon and Washington, including the licensed banker program and other sales leadership and service initiatives.
Feldman joined Union Bank in 2009 and has more than 20 years of banking experience. He previously served as head of California Branch Banking and as national sales manager for the Retail Banking division. Prior to joining Union Bank, Feldman was a managing director of Retail Banking at Countrywide Bank and president and chief executive officer of Countrywide Investment Services Inc. He also served as a senior vice president and Community Banking president at Wells Fargo, where he managed several diverse market areas and developed the licensed banker program.
Feldman received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Fresno. He also earned a Personal Financial Planning certification from the University of California, Irvine. Active in the community, Feldman serves on the board of directors for the American Heart Association in Orange County and is a board member of the California Chamber. He has also served on several boards throughout Southern California, including: the Personal Financial Planning Advisory Committee at the University of California, Irvine; United Way; and Junior Achievement, an organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
Van Eck Global has launched the Market Vectors ChinaAMC China Bond ETF, a U.S.-listed ETF designed to provide investors with direct access to China’s onshore bond market.
The launch continues Van Eck’s leadership in China and emerging markets funds. The company launched the first ETF providing exposure to A-shares in the U.S. (Market Vectors ChinaAMC A-Share ETF) on October 13, 2010, and this summer it launched a Chinese equity ETF (Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF), primarily focused on innovative, non government-owned companies.
CBON seeks to invest in all major segments of the Chinese fixed income markets, including sovereigns, policy banks, and high rated corporate bonds. “China’s domestic bond market is expanding and evolving at the same time. While the full liberalization of the markets is likely to take a long time, movement towards greater access for borrowers and lenders, and a higher degree of market oriented financings such as bond issuance have already greatly broadened the opportunity set for local investors,” said Fran Rodilosso, Senior Investment Officer for Market Vectors ETFs.
CBON is the newest addition to Van Eck’s family of emerging markets bond ETFs which include the largest local-currency bond ETF in the U.S., Market Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond ETF, and the largest emerging markets corporate bond ETF in the U.S, Market Vectors Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF, by assets under management as of October 31, 2014.
“China is currently the largest emerging markets bond market, yet to this point investors outside of mainland China have been mostly excluded from direct ownership of locally issued bonds,” said Mr. Rodilosso. He added “China’s onshore bond market has had historically low correlation to core asset classes and has delivered attractive yields in comparison to developed bond markets in recent years.”
CBON seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ChinaBond China High Quality Bond Index. The Index is comprised of fixed-rate, Renminbi (RMB)-denominated bonds issued in the People’s Republic of China by Chinese credit, governmental and quasi-governmental (e.g., policy banks) issuers. As of November 10, 2014, the yield to maturity for the Index was 4.1%.
ChinaAMC will serve as sub-adviser to CBON using a Renminbi-Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) quota that it has received in order to gain access to this market on behalf of foreign investors. This marks the third ETF for which Market Vectors and ChinaAMC have partnered, joining the China A-share focused Market VectorsChinaAMC A-Share ETF and the Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF.
“China continues to be a focus for Van Eck Global, particularly through our Market Vectors ETF family,” said Ed Lopez, Marketing Director at Market Vectors. “Its economy has had significant impact on global markets in recent years and continues to evolve, yet may be under allocated in investors’ portfolios. This CBON launch is another example of how Market Vectors is delivering access to relevant investment ideas we believe will help shape tomorrow’s markets.”
CBON has a gross expense ratio of 0.57 percent and a net expense ratio of 0.50 percent, which is capped contractually until September 1, 2016. The cap excludes certain expenses, such as interest.
Foto: ChristianFraustoBernal. First Trust Advisors entra al mercado mexicano de pensiones
First Trust Advisors has announced that Mexican pension funds investment regulator, La Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (CONSAR), has approved two First Trust ETFs for sale to Mexican funded pensions, known as AFORES.
According to Mexico’s pension plan investment guidelines, before an ETF can be purchased in a pension fund, it must be approved by CONSAR. “We are pleased that our first two AlphaDEX ETFs are officially approved for sale to Mexican pension funds,” said Dan Lindquist, Managing Director of First Trust. “This opportunity helps to further expand the footprint of our merit-based AlphaDEX ETFs into a new institutional market for First Trust.”
The two funds that have been approved are:
First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX® Fund (NYSE Arca: FTA)
First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX® Fund (NYSE Arca: FEX)
In addition, both funds are cross-listed on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores under the same ticker symbols.
Currently, over 51 million Mexican workers save for their retirement in AFORES, according to CONSAR. There are approximately $164 billion (USD) in assets under management in Mexican pension funds and CONSAR projects Mexico’s retirement savings will grow to $225 billion (USD) by 2018. “As Mexico’s retirement savings grows, we are delighted to provide local pension managers an option for investing in index-based ETFs that seek risk-adjusted excess returns over time by selecting and weighting stocks based on fundamental merit-based factors,” Lindquist said.
. EFG International cuenta con nuevo CEO en Luxemburgo tras la salida de Regis Montazel
EFG Bank (Luxembourg), EFG International’s business in Luxembourg, has appointed Konstantinos Karoumpis as its new Chief Executive Officer, with effect from mid-January. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval, announced the firm.
He will replace François-Régis Montazel, who is leaving at the end of the year to establish his own business. In this capacity, François-Régis Montazel will continue to work with EFG Bank (Luxembourg) S.A. and will remain on its board.
Konstantinos Karoumpis was formerly at Credit Suisse in Luxembourg, which he joined in 2007. Latterly he was Head of Private Banking & Wealth Management, having previously been responsible for business development and support. Prior to this, he undertook corporate banking roles for BNP Paribas and Bank of Cyprus in Athens and Cyprus respectively.
In addition to his responsibilities at EFG Bank (Luxembourg), Konstantinos Karoumpis will help to oversee the development of EFG International’s planned new offices in Athens and Cyprus, which were announced at the time of the half year results.
“This is an exciting challenge for me. EFG International is a specialist private bank and a dynamic one, and this has been much in evidence in the development of its Luxembourg business. François-Régis Montazel deserves every credit, and I look forward to building on the strong foundation that he has put in place. I also look forward to helping EFG develop its new offices in Athens and Cyprus.”, said Konstantinos Karoumpis.
Harvard. Foto: NKCPhoto, Flickr, Creative Commons.. ¿Qué escuela de negocios produce más número de multimillonarios?
Harvard University claimed the number one spot on a Wealth-X ranking of business schools in terms of number of billionaire alumni. Harvard’s MBA program has produced nearly three times more billionaire graduates than that of Stanford University, which emerged in second place on the list.
Wealth-X also found that 21% of world’s billionaires who have pursued tertiary-level education have an MBA. Nearly 50% of these individuals obtained their MBAs from the 10 institutions on the list.
There are 2,325 billionaires globally in 2014, according to the recently released Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census, and 65% of them have tertiary education.
American business schools dominate the list, taking seven of the top 10 spots. Only three institutions are based outside the United States: INSEAD in France, International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, and London Business School in the United Kingdom.
Below is a list of the 10 business schools with the most billionaire alumni:
Some notable billionaires who have graduated with an MBA include Philip Knight, founder and chairman of sports footwear and apparel company Nike, Inc. Knight obtained his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1962.
David Gilbert Booth graduated from Chicago University’s MBA program in 1971 and went on to establish Dimensional Fund Advisors 10 years later. An avid philanthropist, he donated $300 million to the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business in 2008, which was subsequently renamed University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Foto: Barry, Flickr, Creative Commons. Convertibles globales, con Franklin Templeton
Northern Trust Asset Management has launched a new fund for institutional investors that encompasses quality small capitalization stocks across global developed equity markets.
The global small cap fund builds on Northern Trust Asset Management’s growing Engineered Equity strategies, with a US$37.4 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2014. The fund, launched this month with an investment by Kemper Corporation for its Master Retirement Trust, is designed to efficiently capture the premium associated with high quality small capitalization stocks while minimizing uncompensated risk factors.
“Our Engineered Equity approach provides efficient exposure to global small cap equities with a bias toward high-quality companies and factors that generate persistent performance over time,” said Matthew Peron, Managing Director, Global Equity at Northern Trust Asset Management. “We worked closely with Kemper to develop a solution that fits their performance and risk budget needs, leveraging our core capabilities, and we believe this strategy will have broad appeal.”
The global small cap fund is an extension of Northern Trust’s factor-based U.S. small cap strategies, which have a 15-year track record and US$3.4 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2014. The new collective trust fund is available to U.S. defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans and Northern Trust intends to offer the global small cap strategy to a range of investors through separate accounts and other fund structures.
John L. Thornton, New Non-Executive Chairman of PineBridge Investments. Courtesy of PineBridge. John L. Thornton Appointed Non-Executive Chairman of PineBridge Investments
The Board of Directors of PineBridge Investments announced the appointment of John L. Thornton as Non-Executive Chairman effective November 21, 2014. Mr. Thornton will assume the Chairmanship from E. Mervyn Davies, Lord Davies of Abersoch, CBE, who has successfully presided over the Board for four years.
Mr. Thornton has extensive international experience in business, finance and public affairs and has served on the boards of leading global public companies. Mr. Thornton will work closely with the Board and members of senior management in driving the firm’s strategy.
Richard Li Tzar-Kai, PineBridge Board Member and Chairman of Pacific Century Group said, “I would like to thank Mervyn for his leadership and wisdom during the development of PineBridge as an independent multi-asset manager. Our strong position and enhanced investment offering owes a great deal to him. We are pleased to welcome John as our new Chairman and look forward to drawing on his considerable international experience.”
Mr. Thornton said, “I am honored to be joining PineBridge Investments and look forward to working with the leadership of the firm. PineBridge’s developed and emerging markets experience is exceptional as is its ability to create unique investment solutions for clients.”
Mr. Thornton retired in 2003 as President and member of the Board of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He is Chairman of the Board of Barrick Gold Corporation and serves as a Director of the Ford Motor Company. He is Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He is a Professor and Director of the Global Leadership Program at the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing. Thornton is a trustee, advisory board member or member of the China Investment Corporation, China Securities Regulatory Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, McKinsey Advisory Council and Morehouse College. Mr. Thornton holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College, a degree in jurisprudence from Oxford University and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Management.
Foto: Atmtx, Flickr, Creative Commons. Deutsche AWM sigue contratando profesionales para su banca privada en Nueva York
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM) has announced that Heather Kirby, Charles Walker and Stewart Oldfield have joined the firm’s Private Bank. Based in New York, Kirby, Walker and Oldfield report directly to Andrew Gallivan, Managing Director and Head of the New York Private Bank.
“Over the past year, we have been focused on strategically hiring top talent as we aim to be the leading provider of customized wealth solutions to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients in the Americas,” Chip Packard, Co-Head of Wealth Management in the Americas, said. “I am confident Heather, Chuck and Stewart’s extensive industry experience and deep client relationships will help us to achieve our goals and further expand our platform.”
With over 30 years of industry experience, Kirby joined as a Managing Director and Private Banker. Prior to Deutsche AWM, she was a Managing Director and Private Banker at Citi Private Bank, where she focused on the ultra-high-net-worth market. Previously, she was a Managing Director at US Trust. Kirby earned a BA in American Studies from Yale University and an MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.
Charles (Chuck) Walker joined as a Director and Private Banker. Walker brings over 25 years of industry experience and also joined from Citi Private Bank, where he was a Senior Vice President and Private Banker. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President and Private Client Manger at US Trust. Walker earned a BA in Economics from Duke University.
Stewart Oldfield joined as a Director and Private Banker with over 16 years of experience. Prior to Deutsche AWM, Oldfield spent 12 years at Credit Suisse in their Investment Solutions Group, where he was responsible for developing and providing portfolio solutions and liquid alternative investments to the Private Bank’s top institutional and family office clients. Oldfield received a BSBA cum laude in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2002, CAIA charterholder since 2013, and is a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts.
In 2014 Deutsche AWM has made several key hires in its Wealth Management division. Most recently, the Bank announced that it hired Lee Hutter as the Head of Wealth Management for the US Western region. Deutsche AWM also announced the opening of its Private Bank in Dallas in September.
Foto: Carlescs79. Newton, de BNY Mellon, se alía con Cambridge para estudiar la inversión a largo plazo
Cambridge University Judge Business School’s Centre for Endowment Asset Management has entered into a five-year partnership with Newton Investment Management, part of BNY Mellon. This partnership will enable the Centre to further extend its research and educational efforts in the area of long-horizon investing. In recognition of this support, the unit will be renamed the Newton Centre for Endowment Asset Management.
Commenting on the new support arrangement and her firm’s partnership with Cambridge, Newton Chief Executive, Helena Morrissey CBE, said: “Newton has been a long-term supporter of the Centre for Endowment Asset Management. We share the Centre’s commitment to helping long-horizon investors make appropriate investment decisions. We look forward to collaborating with Professor Elroy Dimson and his team, and furthering the understanding of investment decisions and their impact on institutional returns. This underlines our commitment to the not-for-profit and charities sector.”
Newton believes in the importance of independent academic research, and the potential for long-term value creation through bridging the gaps between research, practice and policy. This complements the Centre’s aim of furthering academic knowledge and practitioner understanding of key themes linked to long-term investing. As well as the opportunities and challenges for long-horizon investors, the Centre’s agenda includes historical perspectives on current investment concerns and research on responsible investment strategies.
Centre Chairman, Professor Elroy Dimson, explained that: “The partnership with Newton will reinforce Cambridge University’s ongoing collaboration with practitioners, academics and organisations that take a long-term view of investment. Under the leadership of founding Academic Director Dr David Chambers, the Centre will be a global focus for research and education among academic institutes, asset owners and investment professionals.”
The Centre’s plans include the seventh iteration of the Endowment Asset Management Programme – an annual three-day forum held at Cambridge University, which brings together practitioners and academics with an interest in long-horizon investing. In March 2015, the Programme will, for the first time, include sovereign wealth funds alongside foundations, charities, endowments and family offices from around the world.
The Centre aims to continue publishing in the world’s most highly rated academic and practitioner journals. There is also a commitment to developing case studies of leading long-term investors to be used for interactive classroom teaching. Other activities include a biennial academic conference run in collaboration with the Vienna University of Economics and Business and supported by the POK Puhringer Foundation, and an annual research prize awarded in conjunction with the Commonfund Institute.
The Director of Cambridge Judge Business School, Professor Christoph Loch, added: “The Newton Centre for Endowment Asset Management, with its emphasis on rigorous research combined with practical relevance, is an exciting initiative. Cambridge Judge Business School values scholarship that has an impact on business and society, and Newton’s support is greatly valued by the School.”
Newton’s relationship with Cambridge University is built on a foundation of academic and sporting excellence. Newton has been the title sponsor of the Women’s Boat Race of Cambridge and Oxford Universities since a partnership was formed in 2010. The initiative aims to support and promote the development and improvement of the standard of women’s rowing clubs and equality in the sport. Newton’s parent company, BNY Mellon, is the title sponsor of the men’s race, held on the River Thames each spring. The two firms are working towards parity for the Women’s Boat Race and the Men’s Boat Race, in a joint initiative that will bring The Newton Women’s Boat Race to the Tideway in 2015, ensuring both events take place on the same day over the same historic Putney to Mortlake course.
