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Marc Faber, Swiss contrarian investor, argues that another crisis is inevitable. How should investors position themselves? And how can you spot when the asset-price bubble will burst? Robeco has the answers.
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American Eagle Outfitters just opened their second store in the Santa Fe Mall of Mexico City, as part of their strategic plan to increase their presence in North America. The store in Santa Fe is located in the third biggest mall in Latin America. Known for its skyscrapers and modern architecture, Santa Fe Mall is surrounded by various universities with a large population of young people influenced by fashion, according to a press release by American Eagle Outfitters.
The first store the company opened was in Perisur, south of the Mexican capital, and is close to being top 20 of the most important stores in North America. The launch of the store in Perisur was dependent of celebrity stars like ABC’s Pretty Little Liar’s Shay Mitchell, Diego Boneta, Aerie, and Sport Illustrated’s Nina Agdal, who celebrated the opening with music by Classix and DJ Linx Linx.
“We are going down the right path with our new growth strategy,” says Simon Nankervis, senior vice-president of American & Global Country Licensing. “We are planning on opening in total six more stores under the company’s property in order to boost the business in profit in the next upcoming years. We are excited for all the success we have received in Mexico. Ever since the launching, we have reached more than a million and a half friends on Facebook, the most we have ever received comparing to our other markets outside of the US. We have a great future in Mexico.”
AEO is planning on opening a series of owned stores and operated by the same companies in Mexico. Each AEO includes Aerie in form of “shop-in-shop” or in form of side to side. The third store of the company will be launched June 7, 2013 in Guadalajara, the second biggest city in Mexico, in the mall of Galerías Guadalajara.
In 2012, American Eagle Outfitters has received licenses to open stores in Japan, Israel, and Poland and will continue increasing their presence around the Middle East. Recently, the company launched their success in the Phillippines, which is also a brand new market. American Eagle Outfitters is now present in 14 countries and also sells items through the internet in an international level involving 81 countries.
The company operates more than 1,000 stores in North America and ships items to 81 countries around the world through their website. The products of American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie are available in around 57 international franchise stores in 14 countries.
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OpenGate Capital, LLC, a global private buyout firm, announced today it has sold its remaining investment interest in Models 1, one of Europe’s leading supermodel agencies, to its management team led by Mr. John Horner, Karen Diamond, and Kathy Pryer. OpenGate Capital acquired Models 1 in 2008 and is divesting the business after creating significant new value and increased earnings. No financial terms were disclosed.
Andrew Nikou, OpenGate Capital’s founder, Managing Partner and CEO stated, “The acquisition of Models 1 has been an incredible opportunity to learn about an exciting industry, and to apply investment skills into a business perfectly positioned for growth. Over four and a half years I have been able to guide the management team at Models 1 in the development of new and improved business principles. The combination of the management team’s in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry, and OpenGate’s strategic oversight, yielded growth and increased value including improved profitability and double EBITDA growth.”
OpenGate Capital acquired Models 1 in November of 2008 from Nova Capital Management and the Models 1 management team, and in 2011 the firm sold a majority portion of the business to Mr. Oleg Tscheltzoff. As a result of the investment, OpenGate Capital and Mr. Tscheltzoff yielded two times their invested capital. Going forward, the Models 1 management team will continue to oversee the business and will drive the next phase of the agency’s growth.
Models 1 is an English modeling agency that was founded in 1968 in London, England and has grown to become one of the largest agencies in Europe. Models 1 is at the forefront of discovering, developing and sustaining the careers of many famous models including Yasmin Le Bon, Twiggy, and Rosie Huntington-Whitely. The portfolio of talent includes supermodels Bar Refaeli, Alessandra Ambrosio, Linda Evangelista, Nadja Auermann, Amber Valetta and Agyness Deyn, and male stars Brad Koenig, Noah Mills, Adrian Bosch and Lars. Models 1 gained greater awareness through its partnership with Britain’s Next Top Model, with winners receiving a one year contract for representation with the agency
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One of the most anticipated soccer matches is coming to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 3, 2013 “Messi and Friends vs. The Rest of the World – Battle of the Stars.”
This epic match will be led by Lionel Messi, one of the most dominant athletes in sports. Messi, who has been recognized as the world’s best soccer player by FIFA four years in a row, stated on YouTube, “I invite you on July 3rd to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to experience an unforgettable match, with the best soccer stars in the world.”
Messi will be joined by 28 of the top world soccer figures including Giovani dos Santos, Javier Mascherano, Robert Lewandowski, Cesc Fàbregas, Gerard Piqué, Robinho De Souza, Sergio Busquets, Sergio “Kun” Agüero and more, promising to be one of the most exciting games of the year.
A press conference will be held on Tuesday, June 11th at 12 noon, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the final line up will be announced, and the official uniform will be revealed.
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Erick Morales, the Senior Financial Risk Manager at KPMG Mexico, talked to Funds Society about the benefits of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), as well as his vision for the Latin American market and why now is the right time to adopt the standards in Mexico.
Morales will be giving a seminar on GIPS, organized by Riskmathics, at the Sheraton Maria Isabel de la Ciudad de Mexico Hotel on June 13. He stated that the benefits of the implementation would include “continued transparency of client information regarding yields, and maintaining a uniform structure of strategy presentation amongst investment managers”.
The director mentioned that in the more mature countries, after more than 15 years of global implementation of GIPS, “investors themselves avoid entrusting managers without the standard”. Furthermore, he said that he hoped the Latin American region would follow the same line, because reliance on the CFA Institute endorsed standards can give investment managers a competitive edge.
As for the Mexican repercussions of the FATCA initiative of the United States IRS, Morales said that it would not affect the majority of investment managers complying with the national regulations and seeking to adopt GIPS, “because the Mexican entities’ efforts to comply with the regulations have been good.” He further stated, “The GIPS standards even allow foreign investors to seek alternative options in the region and to become more transparent with regard to other regulations”.
Morales believes this is the right time to adhere to the standards, taking advantage of the fact that the adjustments required – to comply with new regulations like the ones concerning sales practices or investment services – are oriented towards the same goal.
Finally, Morales emphasized that the GIPS seminar organized by Riskmathics will help institutions seeking to apply the standards to understand their foundations, to create portfolios and compliance presentations, including the methods required for yield calculation.
For more information or to register for the seminar, click here.
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Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company, today unveiled its new Practice Management Center, a comprehensive resource that offers Pershing’s clients practice management-related content in one user-friendly, central location. In response to client demand, advisors will now have quick access to all of Pershing’s family of practice management materials, including more than 100 pieces of thought leadership, whitepapers, guidebooks and interactive tools on-demand.
“The goal of the Practice Management Center is to give advisors a resource that answers their most pressing practice management questions,” said Maureen Duff, head of global marketing at Pershing. “Through the Practice Management Center, Pershing’s clients can access a broad spectrum of information, tools and research that will help them evaluate all aspects of business development, better understand regulatory mandates and grow their business.”
With the development of the Practice Management Center, advisors will now be able to efficiently research content specifically relevant to their business. All related information will be grouped within each of Pershing’s practice management pillars: growth, human capital, operational efficiency and managing risk. Each will also be assigned to a topic, helping advisors zero in on the resources that are most relevant to their situation. A sampling of content available on the site includes:
Pershing and its affiliates provide global financial business solutions to over 1,600 financial organizations, broker-dealers, registered investment advisory firms, advisors, fund managers and asset managers who represent over 5.6 million active accounts. Located in 23 offices worldwide.
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After a multiyear rally, many high-yield investors are looking for new strategies to better balance risk and return. We don’t think a deep dive into riskier credits is the answer. Instead, investors should consider moving beyond traditional boundaries—both geographic and in credit rating.
Casting a Global Net for High Yield
European and Asian high-yield investors are accustomed to thinking globally for their high-yield allocations. The fact that the US high-yield market developed first and was for many years the dominant issuing region explains some of their global viewpoint. In contrast, US high-yield investors tend to stick close to home.
But in recent years Asia, Europe and emerging regions have seen their high-yield issuance expand, diversify and become more liquid. The result? US investors may benefit from looking further afield than they have in the past.
Fifteen years ago, less than 1% of the corporate high-yield market was issued outside the US. Today, as shown in the display below, US-only investors are cutting themselves off from nearly a third of the high-yield market.
But those willing to reach across borders (and able to conduct in-depth market, political and issuer research in other regions) can frequently find opportunities in developed and emerging markets with equivalent or better credit ratings than home-field issuers, higher yields, and higher potential return. What’s not to like about that?
Crossing the Investment-Grade Border
We think some of the best ideas for high-yield investors in all regions right now may be outside the traditional high-yield credit-rating zone.
The way we see it, there’s no unbreachable wall between investment-grade and high-yield securities. It’s a continuum, and in all three of the major issuing regions there are numerous BBB and split-rated issuers with yields comparable to their lower-rated cousins.
So, investors shouldn’t fence in their high-yield allocation. One option is to invest part of a longer-maturity high-yield allocation in BBB-rated and split-rated bonds, and focus intermediate- and shorter-maturity exposures in issues rated BB and lower. In our view, this may make a portfolio better able to weather a downgrade along the way. It might also allow a portfolio to benefit from a rising star, because some split-rated bonds could be headed for a passport out of the high-yield universe.
Don’t Be a Yield Hero
By diversifying across regions and selectively moving up in credit, there’s no need to pursue higher yields simply by chasing highly speculative credits. Tight markets bait investors into taking bad risks, and we’re beginning to see this occur as a stream of investors reach down into CCC-rated bonds and so-called covenant-lite bank loans. While opportunities do exist for investors who research and monitor these issuers carefully, overall we don’t think these segments compensate investors for their risks.
With so many opportunities to diversify and find strong securities globally and to reach up and find value in investment-grade bonds, we don’t think there’s any need for high-yield investors to be yield heroes.
Gershon M. Distenfeld directs all of AllianceBernstein’s investment activities regarding high-yield debt securities across dedicated and multisector fixed-income portfolios.
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Many international families have members who live in the United States or are United States citizens by virtue of birth in the United States, which can sometimes lead to complex issues in managing assets, which requires, among other things, a good estate planning.
From this and other issues related to the subject will be talked about next Friday on June 14. Fiscal experts will host a seminar that is titled, “International Families with United States Members: What Do We Do Now?” which will become a series of meetings that the Florida International Bankers Association (FIBA) will host.
Topics Covered are:
Steven L. Cantor, director and partner at Cantor & Webb PA, and Kathryn von Matthiessen, also partner of Cantor, speakers at the seminar will be presented by the Committee FIBA Private Banking and Wealth Management FIBA First Annual Forum.
For more information or to sign-up for the seminar click here.
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Infund LLP has filed a civil lawsuit in Mexico against Germán UK investment firm Infund LLP has filed a civil lawsuit in Mexico against Germán Larrea Mota Velasco ,CEO and controlling shareholder of Grupo Mexico, SAB de CV claiming breach of Infund’s 2003 subscription for approximately 65 million shares of GMexico equity. The action, filed in Mexico City, alleges breach of contract.
“Without Infund’s subscription and payment through its commission agent Larrea, Grupo Mexico’s capital raise would have failed”
Upon filing the suit in Mexico City, a district court ruled to freeze the disputed securities, restricting, among other things, transfer and voting of the shares while the claims are litigated. The disputed shares which have been the subject of numerous stock splits and dividends, have ballooned in value to in excess of US $2 billion and now account for approximately seven percent of GMexico’s outstanding equity. Larrea and his family have a 51 percent controlling stake in GMexico, the giant Mexican mining and railroad conglomerate that operates railroads and mines throughout Mexico as well as Texas and Arizona through its subsidiaries ASARCO and Texas Pacifico Transportation, among others.
At issue in the suit is Infund’s approximately US $75 million subscription for GMexico shares, which Infund alleges Larrea failed to deliver. The cornerstone of a crucial US $230 million capital raise that sought to alleviate GMexico’s 2003 liquidity crunch, Infund’s “commission agreement” mandated a US $75 million advance by Infund to Larrea and a simultaneous underwriting by Larrea to Infund of approximately 65 million GMexico Series B Coupon 5 shares. Infund, managed at the time by Hector Garcia Quevedo Topete, long-time confidant to Larrea family patriarch Jorge Larrea, funded the US $75 million as required. However, the younger Larrea is alleged to have misappropriated the shares to his accounts, where they are believed to remain despite Infund’s repeated attempts to settle the trade.
“Without Infund’s subscription and payment through its commission agent Larrea, Grupo Mexico’s capital raise would have failed,” said José Antonio Marván Lizardi, Infund’s Mexico City spokesman. “The facts are straightforward here: Infund timely fulfilled its US $75 million funding obligation as part of Grupo Mexico’s vital capital raise, but never received the shares that were paid for – it’s time for this trade to be settled,” explained Marván. Counsel in the Mexican action is Rios-Ferrer, Guillén-Llarena, Treviño y Rivera, S.C., a Mexico City law firm.
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EFG Capital International has appointed Carolina Montiel to create and direct the company’s new department of Investment Strategy in Miami. Montiel’s role includes investment advice and delivery of investment products, amongst other responsibilities, she told Funds Society.
Montiel, a professional from HSBC with over 20 years of experience, worked at the private banking Investment Department of the entity, up until a few weeks ago. In this role she built up the Miami platform, including the execution desk and the investment advice desk for UHNW clients.
At HSBC, where she worked for ten years, she gave support, alongside other professionals, to a total of 70 banks with clients primarily in Latin America and with more than $20 billion in assets under management.
Montiel started her career at JP Morgan Chase in Caracas, where she worked for eleven years before moving to Miami. At JP Morgan Chase Bank Venezuela and JP Morgan Chase Valores, she acted as President and Head of Treasury, a time during which she acquired her experience in emerging markets, specifically with foreign exchange and derivatives trading, amongst other areas.
Montiel has a degree in Urban Planning from Simón Bolivar University and holds an MBA from IESA (Institute of SuperiorManagement Studies), in Caracas.
Arturo Neto also joins from HSBC
Accompanying Montiel during this new stage at EFG Capital International is Arturo Neto, also from HSBC. He worked with Montiel a little under two years during her last period at HSBC, where he was Senior Investment Advisor, offering services to 11 private bankers with clients in Latin America and Europe and assets over $1.6 billion.
Neto joins the project to implement the Advisory Services initiative in EFG. He has more than 20 years of broad experience in investments and finance, thanks to several positions he occupied in the industry, such as Analyst, Financial Consultant, Investment Portfolio Manager, University Lecturer and CIO of a Latin American multi-family office.
Neto formerly worked at Merrill Lynch, Dimension Capital Management and Accenture. He has a Masters in Finance from Florida International University, an MBA from Darden Graduate School at University of Virginia, and CFA certification.