Miguel Salinero Barbolla, client service associate at Capital Group. Capital Group Expands Client Service Team
Investment management company Capital Group has announced the appointment of Miguel Salinero Barbolla as client service associate.
Based in London, Salinero is responsible for facilitating client servicing for Capital Group’s financial institutions and intermediaries in Europe.
He joins from BNY Mellon, where he worked most recently as head of international client services and prior to that as client service executive for Spain and Portugal.
Grant Leon, head of Sales for Capital’s Financial Institutions and Intermediaries business, comments on the appointment: “Miguel’s appointment is important as we continue to establish new – and deepen our existing – relationships with intermediaries and our distribution partners across Europe.”
Photo: José Luis Cernadas Iglesias. Riccardo Dallolio Joins H.I.G. Capital as Co-Head of European Real Estate
H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity investment firm with more than €13 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce the appointment of Riccardo Dallolio as Managing Director and Co-Head of European Real Estate. Based in London, he will share these leadership responsibilities with Ahmed Hamdani, who has been a Managing Director in London since 2012.
With over 16 years in the real estate industry, Riccardo has extensive investment and transactional experience across a number of jurisdictions in Europe. Prior to H.I.G., he was at AXA RE where he was Head of Alternatives and Special Situations. During his time at AXA RE, he also held the positions of Head of Transactions in Europe and Head of Asset Management and Transactions in France. Prior to AXA, Riccardo was a Partner at Grove International Partners, and worked in the J.P. Morgan Real Estate Group in London.
H.I.G. Capital’s real estate platform targets opportunistic real estate investments, with a focus on adding value, improving performance, and achieving attractive risk adjusted returns. With offices in London, Madrid, and Milan, the H.I.G. European real estate team is active across a wide spectrum of real estate asset classes. It has completed 13 transactions across multiple jurisdictions in Europe in the last two years including the U.K., Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Finland. With the ability to invest in all parts of the capital structure, H.I.G. Capital is able to develop creative financing solutions and consummate transactions on an expedited basis. Typical investment size ranges from €10 million to €100 million.
In commenting on the appointment, Sami Mnaymneh, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of H.I.G., noted, “I am delighted to welcome Riccardo to the firm. He is a very experienced and successful real estate investor who significantly augments the expertise and capabilities of our team. I am confident he will play an instrumental role in H.I.G. Capital’s development and growth in the real estate asset class.”
CC-BY-SA-2.0, FlickrPhoto: David Dennis. MSCI Delays Inclusion of China A-Shares in Index
After nearly one year firmly positioned at #7, the Renminbi has entered the top five of world payment currencies since November 2014, overtaking both the Canadian Dollar and the Australian Dollar by value. Just two years ago, in January 2013, the RMB was ranked at position #13 with a share of 0.63%. In December 2014, the RMB reached a record high share of 2.17% in global payments by value and now trails the Japanese Yen which has a share of 2.69%.
“The RMB breaking into the top five world payments currencies is an important milestone” says Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Markets at SWIFT. “It is a great testimony to the internationalisation of the RMB and confirms its transition from an “emerging” to a “business as usual” payment currency. The rise of various offshore RMB clearing centres around the world, including eight new agreements signed with the People’s Bank of China in 2014, was an important driver fuelling this growth”.
Overall, global RMB payments increased in value by 20.3% in December 2014, while the growth for payments across all currencies was 14.9%. The RMB has been showing a consistent three digit growth over the past two years with an increase in value of payments by +321%. Over the last year, RMB payments grew in value by 102% compared to an overall yearly growth for all currencies of 4.4%.
Photo: LinkedIn. Jean Pierre Mustier Joins Tikehau Capital for Expansion
Jean Pierre Mustier, formerly head of corporate and investment banking at UniCredit, has joined Tikehau Capital as a partner to help the fund manager’s international expansion.
Mustier joined in early January and is based in London. He stepped down from UniCredit at the end of 2014 after a tenure of almost four years at the bank. He is, however, still a member of UniCredit’s international advisory board.
As well as overseeing Tikehau’s international expansion, Mustier will contribute to the fund manager’s existing business.
Tikehau Capital Group manages $5bn for institutional and private investors in various asset classes – listed and private equity, credit, private debt, and real estate – through its asset management subsidiary, Tikehau IM.
Photo: ITU Pictures. Beamonte Investments to Acquire Venture Academy
Beamonte Investments, along with is affiliate, Beamonte Mexico Holdings, announced it has invested in Venture Academy, an educational platform for training entrepreneurs how to raise money through a four day intensive boot camp designed to provide attendees with the information, guidance, and advice to run their businesses. After the closing, Venture Academy will be a wholly owned by Beamonte.
Based in Mexico City and with offices in Boston, MA Venture Academy was born from the idea that with the right information and guidance, any start-up can be successful. The path from business idea to business maturity can be long and difficult, with many uncertainties along the way. Most start-ups know where they want to go, but do not know hot to get there. They have a vision, but lack funding. When money from friends and family is not enough, outside capital is needed.
Venture Capital firms see hundreds, if not thousands, of slide decks per year. Of these, only about 10% ever get a first meeting. A meeting with an institutional investor could be the make-or-break moment for any start-up. Knowing how to approach investors is critical to getting the capital entrepreneurs need to grow their businesses.
“We notice a huge gap between entrepreneurs and private investment firms. We are the guys on the other side of the table, we know what wins and what loses; our goal is to build more bridges between entrepreneurs and investors,” said Claudia Yan, Manager at Venture Academy.
Venture Academy will provide the knowledge and tools to ace this test.The boot camp consists of an intensive program divided in six modules, including management 101, valuations, term sheets, financing, immigration and more. Venture Academy plans to do multiple boot camps each year.
Beamonte has an outstanding track record on Venture Capital in the United States, recently investing in Arthena and Nanostatisfi. They are eager to replicate the same success in emerging markets such as Mexico and Colombia.
Luis F. Trevino, Senior Managing Director at Beamonte Investments commented, “There are talented and driven entrepreneurs with great ideas claiming there are no funds nor financial opportunities to develop their businesses. On the other hand, there are people like us, keen to find the next big project to invest, develop, and grow. The biggest obstacle to sealing a Venture Capital deal is a lack of sophistication during the negotiation process.”
Beamonte Investments is a single family office located in Boston, Massachusetts. Beamonte has been a pioneer in direct venture capital and private equity investments, credit alternatives, and activist investment campaigns, as well as a pioneer in cross border transactions with Latin America. Since its inception, the firm has executed, as principal and agent, over $5 billion USD in transactions.
Photo: Scott Beale. Recovery Moves Up a Gear as Consumers Step on the Gas
Nadia Grant, Fund Manager at Threadneedle Investments, addresses some of the questions currently on the minds of US equity investors. Overall, she believes that US stocks are very attractively valued in relation to other markets and will gain support from a broad-based economic recovery.
Last year we saw relatively strong economic growth in the US, but a slowdown elsewhere, while oil prices have now halved and the US dollar has surged. Given those developments, how sustainable is the US recovery and will the shape of that growth be affected?
We think the US economic recovery is broadly based and are forecasting GDP growth in 2015 of around 3%, which should provide a very supportive backdrop for equities. We expect the consumer to account for around two-thirds of this growth, at about two percentage points, up from 1.6 percentage points in 2014. The collapse in the oil price is benefitting US consumers enormously. They are now paying an average US$2.14 a gallon, and just US$1.80 in some states, rather than US$3.50 before the oil price drop. These extra dollars provide a considerable boost to lower-income workers, who have a significant propensity to spend. Thus, the lower gasoline price is highly stimulative for the economy.
We expect investment to contribute about one percentage point to overall growth, a level which is also higher than last year.
Interest rates have not risen in the US for nearly nine years but the Federal Reserve has been guiding investors to expect a rise at some point this year. Do you think that this is a reason for US equity investors to be fearful?
No, we do not think investors should be concerned. The Federal Reserve’s guidance reflects the fact that interest rates are abnormally low by historical standards, and more importantly, that the US is on the path to a self- sustainable recovery and thus a normalisation of interest rates. A rise in interest rates would provide concrete evidence of the Federal Reserve’s confidence in the recovery and that view should also support equities. Historically, the market tends to anticipate the first rate hike six months in advance of it taking place and tends to be a lot more volatile during this period. However, historical evidence indicates that rising interest rates have no material impact on the market six months to a year after the first rate hike.
US equity market valuations were at the top of investors’ minds in 2014. Our view was that valuations were quite reasonable and that earnings growth would drive market gains and this proved largely correct. What is your view of valuations going into 2015?
The market has not re-rated but has simply grown in line with earnings and we expect this trend to continue in 2015. The consensus is that equities will be trading at about 15 times PE by the end of the year, which is in line with the market’s long-term historic average. Thus, we think that US equities are neither expensive nor cheap. Given that the US is the sole engine of global growth and given how sound the recovery is, we believe US stocks are very attractively valued in relation to other markets.
What about the inflation?
Low inflation means the rate at which equity cashflow is discounted is also low and historically this has been very supportive for the market. Economic fundamentals and earnings growth should underpin expectations for 2015. As mentioned, we are forecasting 3% GDP growth, which translates into 5-6% revenue growth, some profit margin expansion and buybacks of around 1%. Thus, we anticipate high single-digit earnings growth in 2015, which is high by historic standards.
How are you positioning the American Fund for 2015 and could you provide examples of stocks in which you have the highest conviction?
We focus on companies that are uniquely placed in terms of having secular growth drivers and pricing power. Consequently, in the American Fund we are overweight in the technology and healthcare sectors, which are home to companies that have disruptive new technologies as well as pricing power. Meanwhile, we are underweight in energy and telecoms. We believe energy prices have yet to find a floor, yet the stock price of companies within the sector does not reflect the fall that we have seen in the oil price, while the telecoms sector is subject to intense competition and price erosion, in other words the complete opposite of what we seek.
Photo: Daniel Chapman. Loomis Sayles Adds Investment Strategist to Emerging Markets Team
Loomis, Sayles & Company announced the addition of Esty Dwek as emerging markets global strategist. She is based in the company’s London office and reports to both Peter Marber, head of emerging markets and Christine Kenny, co-managing director of the Loomis Sayles London office.
In this newly created role, Esty is responsible for analyzing emerging market (EM) trends and formulating broad EM country and asset allocation recommendations. As a member of the EM team, Esty will liaise with sell-side analysts, consultants, prospects and existing clients.
“I’m very pleased Esty has joined our team – we worked together previously and I think she is a thoughtful, skilled investor and communicator,” said Peter Marber.
Loomis Sayles has been managing emerging markets assets for over 20 years. Total firm-wide emerging markets assets totaled $16.2 billion, with approximately $8.3 billion in hard currency and $7.9 billion in local currency, as of December 31, 2014.
In 2014, Loomis Sayles announced three new EM portfolio management additions; Joshua Demasi and Michael McDonough were named EM equity portfolio managers in July; Elisabeth Colleran joined the team as EM fixed income portfolio manager in April.
Before joining Loomis Sayles, Esty was an investment strategist in the private bank at HSBC for nearly six years in London. Previously, Esty attended HSBC Private Bank’s graduate program in London, Geneva, New York and Singapore. She earned a BA from Princeton University and holds the CISI accreditation.
Foto: BCE Official. ¿Ha cambiado el programa QE el comportamiento de los inversores?
A recent post noted that the oil price has fallen by more than 30% over six months on five previous occasions since World War Two. The global economy was stronger a year after these drops: the six-month increase in industrial output was higher than its starting level in all five cases, said Simon Ward, economist in financial markets at Henderson Global Investors.
Three of the five oil price falls (1991, 2001 and 2008) were associated with US/global recessions, he explains. A fourth (1998) reflected the Asian economic crisis. The 1986 decline bears the closest resemblance to today. It was partly the result of a mid-cycle global economic slowdown but the more important drivers were a large rise in non-OPEC supply and a structural reduction in demand due to energy conservation in response to a sustained high price in the early 1980s.
The first chart, writes Ward in his last article, overlays the path of spot Brent in the mid 1980s on its recent movement, with the 1980s price rescaled by multiplying it by four. Based on the earlier episode, Brent could bottom at below $40 during the first quarter before recovering to $70-80 by end-2015.
The recovery could be stronger if non-OPEC supply is more price elastic than in the 1980s, as some analysts contend.
The oil price bottomed in July 1986. G7 industrial output growth embarked on a strong recovery soon after, reaching a boom level by late 1987, highlights Ward.
G7 consumer price inflation fell sharply in 1986 but retraced most of this decline in 1987.
Falling US inflation contributed to the Federal Reserve cutting its target Fed funds rate by 2.125 percentage points between December 1985 and August 1986. The Fed, however, reversed course in December 1986 and was forced to tighten aggressively in 1987 as the economy boomed. Longer-term Treasury yields bottomed in April 1986 ahead of the oil price, moving sideways over the remainder of the year before rising sharply from March 1987.
The relevant comparison today may be with the Eurozone. “ECB President Draghi is using a temporary fall in headline consumer prices to push through further easing despite monetary trends and leading indicators suggesting improving economic prospects, with Germany already at full employment. In 1986, the Fed started to raise rates only four months after its final cut. The QE could find ECB opponents that may have strong grounds for calling for a suspension later in 2015″, concludes Henderson’s economist.
Cassandra Alami, Real Estate associate / Courtesy photo. Cassandra Alami Joins Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP as Associate
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP (ARHMF), a South Florida law firm representing domestic and international businesses and investors across various practice areas, announced the addition of a new associate, Cassandra Alami, to the firm’s Real Estate Practice.
Cassandra Alami counsels both international and domestic clients on issues relating to real estate, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, finance, and related corporate issues. Ms. Alami graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science and earned her J.D. from the University of Virginia in 2012. She is admitted to practice law in Ohio and Florida.
“Given the reinvigorated real estate market, we are pleased that Cassandra decided to join our firm’s Real Estate Practice,” said Alcides I. Avila, Managing Partner at ARHMF.
Prior to joining ARHMF, Ms. Alami practiced real estate at a national law firm, where she represented financial institutions, loan servicers, home builders and healthcare systems in various aspects of real estate.
Photo: Moyan Brenn. Azimut Pruchases 70% of Largest Independent Asset Manager in Turkey
Italy’s independent asset manager Azimut and Turkish Bosphorus Capital Portfoy Yonetimi have signed an investment and shareholders agreement to start a partnership in Turkey.
According to the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, Azimut, through AZ International Holdings S.A., will purchase 70% of Bosphorus equity capital for €7.4m.
Bosphorus was established as an independent asset manager in 2011 by four partners with an average 20 years investment experience.
Currently Bosphorus is the largest independent asset management company in Turkey thanks to its consistent and positive track record in excess of the local risk-free rate, its direct funds raising capability and the implementation of a successful distribution model via the banking channel.
Furthermore, 20% of Bosphorus’ AUM are linked to institutional clients, mainly insurance companies. On the product side, the range of 10 managed funds span fixed income, equity and balanced strategies.
As of December 2014, Bosphorus had AUM of some TL1bn (equivalent to €390m), of which almost 70% in Turkish domiciled mutual funds and 30% in discretionary portfolios.
The Turkish asset management industry has €22bn in AUM as of December 2014 (of which more than 90% is invested in short term fixed income strategies) with around 40 asset management companies (of which 29 are independent) registered with the Turkish Capital Market Board.
The commercial and industrial integration of Azimut Portföy, AZ Notus Portföy and Azimut Bosphorus Capital Portföy creates Turkish largest independent player with a diversified product range and a distribution network with both proprietary financial advisors and third party distributors.
Capital Strategies Partners, a third party mutual fund distribution firm, holds the distribution of AZ Fund Management products in Latin America
