E-cigarettes and growing momentum to legalize marijuana in the United States could dramatically revive growth for major tobacco companies, which have not introduced a major new product since light cigarettes in 1970, according to The Boston Company Asset Management (TBC), BNY Mellon‘s Boston-based equity investment boutique.
The growing popularity of electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) has been increasing significantly over the last two years, according to David M. Sealy, senior equity research analyst at TBC and the author of the report, Up in Smoke: Changes Sweep the Tobacco Industry.
While the ENDS industry initially was dominated by small entrepreneurial companies, TBC estimates that the largest three tobacco companies in the U.S. now hold approximately 25 percent of the global market.
“The global market for ENDS is substantial, and we estimate that it now amounts to $3 billion in annual revenue, with roughly half in the U.S. and the other half in Europe, primarily in the UK,” said Sealy. “But this means that the ENDS market share is a mere 0.5 percent of the $670 billion global cigarette industry.” Sealy added that he does not expect regulatory scrutiny to meaningfully slow the growth of e-cigarettes.
Regarding marijuana, Sealy said, “Legalization in the U.S. could be closer than most people think.” The TBC paper notes that the current marijuana policies as measured by consumption are a failure, with consumption growing consistently over the last 40 years. In addition, the costs of current policies including incarceration, enforcement, and loss of taxation are large and growing amid budget woes, the report said.
The report cites growing popular support for legalization and notes the trend for decriminalization in more states. “Until now the markets have focused primarily on the impact of legalization on speculative small cap stocks, but if legalization becomes official federal policy, the big tobacco companies will end up dominating the market,” Sealy said.
Declining sales of traditional cigarettes has been driving the big tobacco companies to diversify into related products, and marijuana would be a natural evolution of this strategy, the report said. The report also notes that the tobacco industry also is well adapted to an environment of high taxation, regulation and litigation, which are expected to accompany any commercialization of marijuana. “From a regulator’s point of view, tobacco companies may be the most desirable entrants in the industry as they may be the most controllable players in the commercialization of marijuana,” said Sealy.
Scotiabank has announced the retirement of Sabi Marwah, effective May 30, 2014. Sabi is currently Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer with a 35-year history at Scotiabank.
“Sabi has had an extraordinary impact in shaping the success and character of Scotiabank,” said Brian Porter, Scotiabank President and Chief Executive Officer. “He is a well-regarded business leader with keen insight and an unwavering commitment to excellence. He has also been a role model in the community, giving generously of his time.”
There will be a realignment of key executive reporting relationships with this retirement.
Sean McGuckin, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, will report directly to Mr. Porter and assume expanded responsibility.
Also now reporting to Mr. Porter are Deborah Alexander, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Jeffrey Heath, Executive Vice President & Group Treasurer, Kimberlee McKenzie, Executive Vice President, Information Technology & Solutions, and Grant Mick, Senior Vice President & Chief Auditor.
Anatol von Hahn, Group Head, Canadian Banking will assume responsibility for Shared Services in Canada.
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada’s most international bank. Through its team of more than 83,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $783 billion (as at January 31, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto and New York Exchanges.
Boca Raton. Photo: StevenM61. Oppenheimer cuenta con nuevo managing director de Inversiones en Boca Raton, Florida
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., has announced that Brian C. Kutsmeda has joined the Firm as Managing Director – Investments and Area Manager. He will work out of Oppenheimer’s Boca Raton office and will report to Executive Vice President, Private Client Division, Robert Okin.
Throughout his more than 20 years in the financial services industry, Mr. Kutsmeda has created a distinguished track record as a financial advisor, training director and branch and area manager. He joins Oppenheimer from JP Morgan.
“Brian’s range of skills reflect a determined professional who has put his time to good use in helping clients and helping his associates grow their abilities and their assets under management,” said Mr. Okin.
Mr. Kutsmeda focuses on collaborating with the people in his company, clients and industry partners. His goal is to assist his firm and the financial advisors with whom he works to bring in new clients and assets. His experience as a trainer and mentor helps improve the competencies of advisors and managers to structure their businesses as effectively as possible.
“I am excited to be a part of Oppenheimer,” Mr. Kutsmeda said, “because it offers a strong platform for financial advisors to perform well for their clients while encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit so critical to our business. During the past decade, I have observed the firm’s growth, and my goal is to continue the momentum, making it the best place for successful advisors in South Florida.”
“Oppenheimer has already built a substantial and dynamic presence in Boca Raton. We expect Brian to help expand the firm’s business and reputation throughout the area,” Mr. Okin said.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., a principal subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. and its affiliates provide a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage and investment banking services to high-net-worth individuals, families, corporate executives, local governments, businesses and institutions. OAM is a registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc.
On two previous occasions, I felt the need to congratulate you for an exemplary first year in office. Today, it can safely be said that in just two and a half years at the helm, you have made the ECB the key institution in the European construction process. You have prevented the euro area from imploding and allowed its most vulnerable members to re-enter the bond market.
The record is plain to see. In January 2012, yields on Italian and Spanish 10-year government debt were close to 7% and 5%, respectively. They have now been halved. Even better, because you made your support for these states contingent on their adoption of a code of good conduct – the Fiscal Compact – it took only minimal ECB involvement to get results. Renewed investor confidence was enough to get the markets working the way they are supposed to.
So these are impressive achievements. But will they really fit the bill? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The two countries I mentioned are expected to produce growth of less than 1% and have an inflation rate barely above zero. This means they will be shouldering an even heavier debt burden this year, with debt service still outstripping nominal growth by a sizeable margin. True, the ECB can only go so far in stimulating member state economies. Yet its duty is to gauge the recessive impact of any fiscal consolidation and structural reform programmes. It is therefore imperative that the European Central Bank counterbalance the inevitable hardships with a resolutely accommodative monetary policy geared to weakening the euro. This would help European companies move back up the competitive ladder and push inflation up into the vicinity of 2%.
What decisive steps will be required to make that happen? I would suggest (1) a zero interest-rate policy, engineered through a token 0.25% cut in your benchmark interest rate; (2) a sovereign bond buyback programme of €50 billion a month, with the breakdown based on the relative economic weight of the various member states. These purchases would amount to 6% of eurozone GDP a year, and it goes without saying that they should not be sterilised.
The higher confidence in the European construction process you have brought about has to be consolidated. At this stage, Machiavelli needs to morph into Super Mario – an equally stellar role when the task at hand is to keep deflation from clogging up Europe’s intricate economic plumbing.
That, in any case, is my hope, and I have no doubt that you can and will do whatever it takes.
Respectfully yours,
Edouard Carmignac
You may also access Mr. Carmignac’s letter through this link.
Henderson Global Investors’ £17.28 billion (€20.77 billion or US$28.62 billion) fixed income business has hired Steve Drew as Head of Emerging Market Credit. He will work alongside Stephen Thariyan, Global Head of Credit, and Phil Apel, Head of Fixed Income, in building out the emerging market credit team.
Most recently Steve was Partner and Head of Global and Emerging Credit at Thames River Capital and managed in excess of £1.5bn (€1.8bn or US$2.4bn), c.£750m (€900m or US$1.2bn) of which was in emerging market credit. Steve has over 20 years of global credit experience across buy and sell-side businesses such as JP Morgan Chase and Tudor Capital.
Commenting on the appointment, Stephen Thariyan said, “Steve brings valuable investment knowledge, client relations and management skills to the team. His understanding of the emerging market credit sector, together with his impressive track record with client money and proven ability to help raise assets, will be hugely beneficial as we focus on expanding the scale of our fixed income franchise globally.”
“We will actively seek to apply Steve’s expertise to our existing portfolios for the benefit of our clients as his approach to investing, combining top down macroeconomic perspectives with security selection, fits well with our established method. During 2014 we plan to hire an investment team specialising in emerging market credit to support Steve. This will give us the background to launch products in the area.”
Steve Drew added: “Henderson has an excellent reputation in the credit market and the wider fixed income team is one of the most respected in the industry. My choice to join was also based on the strong collective belief that emerging market credit forms an imperative part of Henderson’s future business strategy. This is an exciting time for Henderson and I look forward to working with Stephen and the team.”
Amy Lo has taken over from Allen Lo as UBS Wealth Management’s chief executive officer (CEO) in Hong Kong, according to information published in several media.
The outgoing Lo, who has been in the role since October 2009, is retiring. Edmund Koh, CEO of UBS Wealth Management in South-east Asia and Asia Pacific Hub, will assume Lo’s responsibilities as deputy CEO of wealth management in Asia Pacific.
For the incoming Lo, she moves into her new role from her position of head of UBS’ ultra high net worth group in Asia Pacific. She first joined UBS in 1995.
Photo: HipolitoLuiz, Flickr, Creative Commons.. How Millionaires Invest
According to the new Legg MasonGlobal Investor Survey of 4,320 affluent investors from 20 countries, the vast majority (80.2%) said they were optimistic about investments over the next twelve months. The majority of respondents said they intend to maintain their current asset allocations; however, greater than one-third (37.1%) said they intend to increase their allocation to equities – more than those increasing their allocation to cash (36.8%) or any other asset class.
The top five investments that investors believe offer the best opportunity over the next twelve months are:
Domestic stocks
Real estate
Cash
Precious metals including gold
Domestic bonds
The average asset allocation among all respondents globally consists of:
26.5% cash or cash equivalents
24.7% equities
19.9% fixed income
16.8% investment real estate
6.8% non-traditional investments
5.2% other
“Our survey found a level of optimism shared by investors around the world that is very encouraging,” said Matthew Schiffman, managing director and head of global marketing at Legg Mason Global Asset Management. “The fact that more said they are adding equities, and they believe domestic stocks present the best opportunity, says their optimism could translate into a change in investment behavior that may play out in the equities market.”
Income important but income gap remains a challenge
Seven out of ten (71%) investors said that having income generating investments in their portfolio is an important priority. Yet global investors said the income they are generating continues to fall short of their goals.
More specifically, according to the survey the average rate of return global investors seek to achieve on income-producing investments is 9.5%; but the actual rate of return they receive is 6.2%, creating an income gap of 3.3%.
Investing internationally: increasing interest in US and China
More than three-quarters (78.7%) of survey respondents said they invest outside of their home country with an average allocation of 16.5% to international investments. Those who invest internationally or are likely to do so see the following countries as presenting the best investing opportunities over the next 12 months:
US (51.7%)
China (50.1%)
Emerging markets (45.3%)
Europe excluding UK (35.2%)
Growth, retirement top goals but achieving a challenge
Asked to identify their primary goals of investing, almost three-quarters (73.7%) said “grow my wealth” was their top investment goal, followed by “provide for my own retirement” (61.7%) and “protect my wealth” (58.5%). However, many investors are not doing very well in making progress toward their goals; many are only doing “somewhat” well.
More specifically:
46.9% admit they are doing not well or only “somewhat” well in achieving their goal to “grow my wealth”
41.9% said they are doing not well or only “somewhat” well at achieving the goal to “provide for my own retirement”
39.5% said they are doing not well or only “somewhat” well at “protecting their wealth”
Only 19.6% said they are doing “extremely well” in their progress toward achieving their goal to “provide for my own retirement.” Further, more than half (56.6%) said they are only “somewhat confident” that they will have enough money to “live the lifestyle they want in retirement,” while 28.3% said they were “very confident.”
“When it comes to achieving your retirement goals, only doing ‘somewhat well’ or being ‘somewhat confident’ is concerning,” Mr. Schiffman said. “Investors around the world all have one thing in common – the need for enough assets to provide for their years in retirement. Granted, different countries have different social programs to help their retiree populations, but in the end, our survey found that investors everywhere can, and should, do more to prepare for their retirement. And that includes millionaires.”
How millionaires invest
Included in this year’s Legg Mason Global Investor survey were the responses of 2,164 millionaires– that is, survey participants with over $1 million in total assets measured in US dollars. According to the survey, the average asset allocation of global millionaires is:
25% cash
21.5% equities
19.6% fixed income
18.7% investment real estate
9.1% non-traditional
6.1% other
More than eight in ten (83.2%) millionaires surveyed said they are optimistic about investments over the next year, and 45% said they plan to increase their allocation to equities in the next 12 months – well above the 33.7% of investors below $1 million who said the same.
Millionaires go global for investments
Millionaires are far more likely to be investing outside of their home country than those with fewer assets. More specifically, 88.7% of global millionaires surveyed said they invest outside of their country, compared to 74.6% of investors with less than $1 million. Furthermore, millionaires also have a larger portion of their assets invested outside of their home countries: 20.4% of their assets versus 14.8% for those with under $1 million. Among those millionaires who do invest internationally or are likely to do so, the countries they believe represent the best investment opportunities over the next 12 months are:
US (53.7%)
Emerging markets (45.3%)
China (44.6%)
Europe ex UK (37.8%)
Income gap smaller as millionaires achieve greater return
As a result of receiving greater income from their portfolios, the income gap millionaires are experiencing is smaller than that of investors around the world with fewer than $1 million in assets.
The average rate of return millionaires seek to achieve from income-producing investments is 9.6%, close to the 9.5% for those with less than $1 million in assets. Millionaires reported the actual rate of return they receive is 7% compared to 5.8% for those with fewer assets. As a result, the income gap for millionaires is 2.6%, while the income gap for investors with fewer assets is 3.7% – a 110 basis point difference.
According to the survey, millionaires are more focused on growing their assets than protecting their assets. Specifically, asked to identify their primary goals of investing, the millionaires said:
Grow my wealth (70.9%)
Protect my wealth (60.5%)
Maintain my current lifestyle later in life (55.4%)
Provide for my own retirement (53.3%)
When it comes to retirement, 45% of millionaires around the world said they are only “somewhat” confident in their “ability to retire at the age they want to” and 18.6% are not confident. Just over one-third (36.5%) said they were very confident. Asked to define the decisions they made that have had “the most positive impact on investing success,” millionaires point to the following top five decisions:
Developed a financial plan (43.9%)
Invested in products other than stocks and bonds (35.4%)
Took cash off the sidelines and invested it (34.8%)
Changed my spending habits so I could save/invest more (32.2%)
BNY Mellon Investment Management has announced that Kimberly Mustin has joined the firm as Head of North American Distribution, responsible for leading new business strategy and driving sales, client management and consultant relations efforts across institutional, retirement and retail markets throughout North America.
“Kim has significant leadership experience in all three North American markets and has succeeded within a multi-boutique investment management structure,” said PeterPaul Pardi, BNY Mellon’s Global Head of Distribution. “We are delighted to have Kim lead our North American efforts, and are confident she will further enhance our ability to build a market-leading organization focused on delivering outstanding investment solutions to our clients from across our specialist boutiques.”
In North America, Mustin will oversee centralized distribution and consultant relations across Dreyfus, BNY Mellon Retirement, and Institutional markets. Working closely with BNY Mellon’s investment boutiques, as well as Investment Management’s product and marketing leadership, she will lead the strategic plan for the North American distribution business. She will be based in New York and report to Pardi.
Mustin joins BNY Mellon most recently from Oppenheimer Funds where she was Head of Global Strategic Accounts since 2010, leading all institutional buyer groups including institutional, retail home offices, third party and global private banking platforms. Prior to Oppenheimer, Mustin was with Legg Mason, serving as both Head of Institutional and Co-Head of Americas Distribution for Legg Mason affiliates. Throughout her career of consistently progressive sales leadership positions, Mustin headed the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank, led Consulting and Relationship Management for Retirement at Scudder Investments, was a Principal at State Street Global Advisors and a Senior Consultant at Putnam Investments. She began her career as an Agent with the US Treasury Department.
“We are working continuously to explore, develop and implement enhancements to our distribution efforts globally,” Pardi continued. “These initiatives have enabled us to achieve top 10 sales performance in both the U.K. and Europe in 2013, as well as a top 10 position in the U.S. Retirement market. It’s a thoughtful approach to strategic planning and investment in our platform that will serve Kim well as she leads us forward in North America.”
Real Estate Investment World Latin America 2013. Photo: Terrapinn. LatAm's Real Estate Investment Industry Meets in Miami
Real Estate Investment World Latin America, organized by Terrapinn, is the leading conference for investors, real estate funds, fund of funds, and developers capitalizing on opportunities in Latin America’s hottest and emerging real estate markets.
In 2014, the event will take place alongside Private Equity World Latin America, bringing even more networking opportunities. It will take place in Miami, on 6th-7th, May.
During two days, the same as Private Equity World Latin America summit, attendants will be able to network with top Latin American investors including AFP Profuturo, Fondo de Fondos and CORFO; hear how international investors are allocating to LatAm from Florida State Pension Plan Board, Chevy Chase Fund, CERN and more; understand how family offices like Quilvest, CV Advisors, Forrestal Capital, WE Family Office, AKRO Group and WLD Enterprises are choosing between direct opportunities and funds; explore opportunities in Mexico’s emerging REIT market with Fibra Uno, Macquarie Group and Terrafina; identify new opportunities in Colombia and Peru’s housing, retail and logistics markets with Terranum Capital, Avenida Capital and Tierra Partners.
Among the companies that will attend are YMCA Retirement Fund, Terranum, Florida State Board of Investments, Terrafina, Coral Gables Trust, Fibra Uno, Chevy Chase Trust, Related Group – Brazil, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, Abraaj Capitaland many more.
To download the brochure, use this link and to register, this one.
Wikimedia CommonsPhoto: Popejon2 . SEC Charges Brokerage Firm Executives in Kickback Scheme to Secure Business of Venezuelan Bank
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced another round of charges in its ongoing case against several individuals involved in a massive kickback scheme to secure the bond trading business of a state-owned Venezuelan bank.
The SEC alleges that two executives at New York City-based brokerage firm Direct Access Partners (DAP) were integral participants in the wide-ranging fraud. Benito Chinea, who was a co-founder and CEO of the firm, and Joseph DeMeneses, who was DAP’s managing partner of global strategy, devised and facilitated sham arrangements to conceal multi-million dollar kickback payments to a high-ranking Venezuelan finance official of the bank. In one instance, DeMeneses made kickback payments from funds he controlled to a shell entity controlled by the Venezuelan official, and Chinea arranged for the firm to reimburse DeMeneses. The allegations were made in a second amended complaint that the SEC submitted in federal court in Manhattan as part of its pending action against four individuals with ties to DAP as well as the head of DAP’s Miami office, who were charged last year for their roles in the scheme.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division today announced criminal charges against Chinea and DeMeneses.
“The corruption at Direct Access Partners reached the very top,” said Andrew M. Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “The schemers depended on Chinea as CEO to authorize outsized payments from the firm to be funneled as kickbacks to Venezuela.”
The filing of the SEC’s second amended complaint is subject to court approval. The SEC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest and financial penalties against Chinea, who lives in Manalapan, N.J., and DeMeneses, who lives in Fairfield, Conn., as well as the five previously named defendants with ties to DAP, which has filed for bankruptcy.
The SEC’s investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Wendy Tepperman, Amanda Straub, and Michael Osnato of the New York Regional Office, and supervised by Amelia Cottrell. Howard Fischer is leading the SEC’s litigation. An SEC examination of DAP that that led to the investigation was conducted by members of the New York office’s broker-dealer examination staff. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
