Foto cedida. StepStone: "CPRIM provides convenient, efficient and transparent access to private markets for small institutional investors and high net worth individuals"
Private markets have historically produced attractive returns relative to their public market counterparts. However, retail investors, and especially high net worth individuals (HNWIs), currently maintain a small exposure to this potential source of return compared with large institutional investors. StepStone Group, a global private markets investment company, launched Conversus, its private wealth platform in 2019 with the hope of converting the advantages enjoyed by large institutions into opportunities for small institutional investors and HNWIs.
Funds Society had the opportunity to chat with Shannon Bolton, a managing director at StepStone, and Neil Menard, president of distribution at Conversus, about the end-to-end solution that CPRIM offers to retail investors to access the same high-quality global investments in private markets as major institutions.
Specifically, Bolton and Menard presented CPRIM asa multi-strategy private markets fund that provides global and diversified access to a wide spectrum of asset classes—private equity, real assets (real estate and infrastructure) and private debt—in a single investment. CPRIM takes advantage of StepStone’s deep institutional relationships and investment experience in these markets. As of June 30, 2021, StepStone oversaw $465 billion of private markets allocations, including $90 billion of assets under management. Its clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies.
Minimum investment of $50,000, monthly Net Asset Value and potential for quarterly liquidity
“If you think about the conditions that worry HNWIs about conventional private-equity funds—10-year lockups, unpredictable capital calls, ‘black box’ investment strategies—investors don’t really know what they’re buying,” Neil explains at the beginning of the interview. “We [at StepStone] have been able to eliminate all of this with CPRIM. We have been able to offer significant diversification within the private markets in an investor-friendly structure.”
Created in October 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, CPRIM stands out as an open-architecture investment strategy. The fund invests in deals and with managers that StepStone identifies as the best in private markets.
In addition to its open architecture investment strategy and the ability to access quarterly liquidity as core building blocks, Bolton points to three features that differentiate CPRIM from other semi-liquid private market investment vehicles: CPRIM only invests in private markets deals, and the fund does not invest in ETFs or publicly traded stocks so the true underlying exposure is only to the private markets. The fund also holds a low cash position, 5–10% target of the portfolio; and the fund structure is fee efficient. There is no performance fee, and the management fee is only 1.4%, which is quite low for a fund that invests in private markets and gives investors the ability to redeem quarterly.
“The fund allows access to private markets to investors who either do not have the standard minimum five million dollars of investment needed to access conventional privateequity funds or to those investors who are not comfortable with the lack of liquidity in those markets,” she adds.
Symbiosis between StepStone and Conversus
CPRIM is managed consistently with other separately managed accounts held by StepStone, Menard explains. “The big concern among many investors is that the deals that go into retail funds are the ones that the big investment institutions did not want. Since we launched the fund last October, we have made approximately 56 investments [in CPRIM] as of August 1, 2021. Each one of these was conducted alongside one or more of StepStone’s institutional clients,” says Menard.
The profitable symbiosis between StepStone and CPRIM comes through the size of its team and the first-hand information they have thanks to extensive research and engagement with investment firms; in context, StepStone holds an average of 4,000 meetings annually with generalpartners. The information harvested feeds a proprietary database called SPI (StepStone Private Markets Intelligence), explains Bolton, which is a fundamental tool to track the activities of underlying GPs. “As of June 30, 2021, SPI contains information on more than 66,000 private companies, 38,000 funds and 14,000 generalpartners,” explains Bolton.
Highly diversified portfolio with monthly NAVs and potential for quarterly liquidity
The multi-strategy fund that characterizes CPRIM aims to build a portfolio “as diversified as possible,” says Bolton. In the long run, the strategic asset allocation aims to devote 40–60% to privateequity, as well as 25–40% to real assets and, finally, a small portion to private debt. “The more diversified the fund, the more it will behave like a model where we can predict cash flow. That is what we want to do.”
How do you launch such a fund for retail investors?How do you manage to minimize the J-curve? “The obvious way is to invest in late-stage secondary portfolios so that you can put the money to work right away, or through direct co-investments. StepStone has a very robust pipeline in both secondary transactions and co-investments. Over time, we will start adding primary fund investments to the portfolio. This will happen when the portfolio starts to generate enough cash to meet capital calls without generating cash drag, which we don’t think will happen for three or four years,” says Menard.
The current composition of the portfolio shows an abundance of private equity investments, at more than 70% of the portfolio, and an allocation of around 20% to real estate and infrastructure. More than 80% of these investments were made through secondary transactions and about 20% through co-investments, according to the fund’s managers.
“We do not focus on a particular sector or industry, as there are always good opportunities in all sectors. We believe we can give investors a very diversified private markets portfolio that has the ability to provide liquidity to investors quarterly,” summarizes Bolton.
“CPRIM provides convenient, efficient and transparent access to private markets, through a semi-liquid structure, for small institutional investors and individuals,” Menard concludes.
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainFin a la racha alcista de la Bolsa americana. Wall Street
US equities declined during the month of September, ending a seven-month streak of positive returns. Although COVID-19 Delta variant infection rates showed signs of improvement relative to August, the resulting broad market headwinds surrounding company supply chains and Fed policy changes in response to inflation were the primary points of focus in September.
While consumer demand has generally remained consistent, supply chain concerns resulting in shortages and increasing costs have pressured company profit margins. Approaching a new round of Q3 earnings this October, the market is remains cautious as companies are expected to face more difficult comps relative to Q2 2021.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell provided increasingly explicit signals that reductions of the Fed’s current asset purchase program may soon be warranted during recent congressional hearings. Early signs of tapering were taken in stride by the market which anticipated this action to occur in the near-term. This would be the initial step taken by the Fed which aims to help combat rising inflation which they continue to characterize as “transitory”.
Global M&A activity continued its torrid pace in the third quarter, with deal making reaching $4.4 trillion for the year, an increase of more than 90% compared to 2020. The first nine months of 2021 have already surpassed the full year M&A record that was set in 2015 at $4.3 trillion. Excluding SPAC acquisitions, which have announced $550 billion in deals in 2021, M&A activity totaled $3.85 trillion. The U.S. remains the primary venue for deals, with targets there totaling $2 trillion, while Technology, Financials and Industrials remain the most active sectors.
While a number of factors drove global equities lower in September, the asymmetrical profile of convertibles offered some protection in a volatile environment. For the month, the Russell 3000 was down 4.48% while the global convertible market was down 2.29%, capturing just over 50% of the downside of equities. Issuance was a bit softer than anticipated given the volatile market, but we still saw some large deals that brought the total dollar amount to $14.4B for the month, and $124B for the year, globally. We anticipate the pace of issuance to slow through earnings season but pick up through the end of the year, likely leaving us just shy of 2020 totals.
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To access our proprietary value investment methodology, and dedicated merger arbitrage portfolio we offer the following UCITS Funds in each discipline:
GAMCO MERGER ARBITRAGE
GAMCO Merger Arbitrage UCITS Fund, launched in October 2011, is an open-end fund incorporated in Luxembourg and compliant with UCITS regulation. The team, dedicated strategy, and record dates back to 1985. The objective of the GAMCO Merger Arbitrage Fund is to achieve long-term capital growth by investing primarily in announced equity merger and acquisition transactions while maintaining a diversified portfolio. The Fund utilizes a highly specialized investment approach designed principally to profit from the successful completion of proposed mergers, takeovers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts and other types of corporate reorganizations. Analyzes and continuously monitors each pending transaction for potential risk, including: regulatory, terms, financing, and shareholder approval.
Merger investments are a highly liquid, non-market correlated, proven and consistent alternative to traditional fixed income and equity securities. Merger returns are dependent on deal spreads. Deal spreads are a function of time, deal risk premium, and interest rates. Returns are thus correlated to interest rate changes over the medium term and not the broader equity market. The prospect of rising rates would imply higher returns on mergers as spreads widen to compensate arbitrageurs. As bond markets decline (interest rates rise), merger returns should improve as capital allocation decisions adjust to the changes in the costs of capital.
Broad Market volatility can lead to widening of spreads in merger positions, coupled with our well-researched merger portfolios, offer the potential for enhanced IRRs through dynamic position sizing. Daily price volatility fluctuations coupled with less proprietary capital (the Volcker rule) in the U.S. have contributed to improving merger spreads and thus, overall returns. Thus our fund is well positioned as a cash substitute or fixed income alternative.
Our objectives are to compound and preserve wealth over time, while remaining non-correlated to the broad global markets. We created our first dedicated merger fund 32 years ago. Since then, our merger performance has grown client assets at an annualized rate of approximately 10.7% gross and 7.6% net since 1985. Today, we manage assets on behalf of institutional and high net worth clients globally in a variety of fund structures and mandates.
Class I USD – LU0687944552 Class I EUR – LU0687944396 Class A USD – LU0687943745 Class A EUR – LU0687943661 Class R USD – LU1453360825 Class R EUR – LU1453361476
GAMCO ALL CAP VALUE
The GAMCO All Cap Value UCITS Fund launched in May, 2015 utilizes Gabelli’s its proprietary PMV with a Catalyst™ investment methodology, which has been in place since 1977. The Fund seeks absolute returns through event driven value investing. Our methodology centers around fundamental, research-driven, value based investing with a focus on asset values, cash flows and identifiable catalysts to maximize returns independent of market direction. The fund draws on the experience of its global portfolio team and 35+ value research analysts.
GAMCO is an active, bottom-up, value investor, and seeks to achieve real capital appreciation (relative to inflation) over the long term regardless of market cycles. Our value-oriented stock selection process is based on the fundamental investment principles first articulated in 1934 by Graham and Dodd, the founders of modern security analysis, and further augmented by Mario Gabelli in 1977 with his introduction of the concepts of Private Market Value (PMV) with a Catalyst™ into equity analysis. PMV with a Catalyst™ is our unique research methodology that focuses on individual stock selection by identifying firms selling below intrinsic value with a reasonable probability of realizing their PMV’s which we define as the price a strategic or financial acquirer would be willing to pay for the entire enterprise. The fundamental valuation factors utilized to evaluate securities prior to inclusion/exclusion into the portfolio, our research driven approach views fundamental analysis as a three pronged approach: free cash flow (earnings before, interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, minus the capital expenditures necessary to grow/maintain the business); earnings per share trends; and private market value (PMV), which encompasses on and off balance sheet assets and liabilities. Our team arrives at a PMV valuation by a rigorous assessment of fundamentals from publicly available information and judgement gained from meeting management, covering all size companies globally and our comprehensive, accumulated knowledge of a variety of sectors. We then identify businesses for the portfolio possessing the proper margin of safety and research variables from our deep research universe.
Class I USD – LU1216601648 Class I EUR – LU1216601564 Class A USD – LU1216600913 Class A EUR – LU1216600673 Class R USD – LU1453359900 Class R EUR – LU1453360155
GAMCO CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES
GAMCO Convertible Securities’ objective is to seek to provide current income as well as long term capital appreciation through a total return strategy by investing in a diversified portfolio of global convertible securities.
The Fund leverages the firm’s history of investing in dedicated convertible security portfolios since 1979.
The fund invests in convertible securities, as well as other instruments that have economic characteristics similar to such securities, across global markets (but the fund will not invest in contingent convertible notes). The fund may invest in securities of any market capitalization or credit quality, including up to 100% in below investment grade or unrated securities, and may from time to time invest a significant amount of its assets in securities of smaller companies. Convertible securities may include any suitable convertible instruments such as convertible bonds, convertible notes or convertible preference shares.
By actively managing the fund and investing in convertible securities, the investment manager seeks the opportunity to participate in the capital appreciation of underlying stocks, while at the same time relying on the fixed income aspect of the convertible securities to provide current income and reduced price volatility, which can limit the risk of loss in a down equity market.
Class I USD LU2264533006
Class I EUR LU2264532966
Class A USD LU2264532701
Class A EUR LU2264532610
Class R USD LU2264533345
Class R EUR LU2264533261
Class F USD LU2264533691
Class F EUR LU2264533428
Disclaimer: The information and any opinions have been obtained from or are based on sources believed to be reliable but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. No responsibility can be accepted for any consequential loss arising from the use of this information. The information is expressed at its date and is issued only to and directed only at those individuals who are permitted to receive such information in accordance with the applicable statutes. In some countries the distribution of this publication may be restricted. It is your responsibility to find out what those restrictions are and observe them.
Some of the statements in this presentation may contain or be based on forward looking statements, forecasts, estimates, projections, targets, or prognosis (“forward looking statements”), which reflect the manager’s current view of future events, economic developments and financial performance. Such forward looking statements are typically indicated by the use of words which express an estimate, expectation, belief, target or forecast. Such forward looking statements are based on an assessment of historical economic data, on the experience and current plans of the investment manager and/or certain advisors of the manager, and on the indicated sources. These forward looking statements contain no representation or warranty of whatever kind that such future events will occur or that they will occur as described herein, or that such results will be achieved by the fund or the investments of the fund, as the occurrence of these events and the results of the fund are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The actual portfolio, and thus results, of the fund may differ substantially from those assumed in the forward looking statements. The manager and its affiliates will not undertake to update or review the forward looking statements contained in this presentation, whether as result of new information or any future event or otherwise.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Allianz GI se une a la iniciativa One Planet Asset Managers
Recognizing the role investors play as a catalyst to finance the transition towards a low carbon economy, Allianz Global Investors has announced that it is joining the One Planet Asset Managers (OPAM)initiative.
This project was launched in 2019 to support the members of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds (OPSWF) in their implementation of the OPSWF Framework. The OPSWF Network comprises 43 of the world’s largest institutional investors with over 36 trillion dollars in assets under management and ownership.
By joining OPAM, Allianz GI commits to actively collaborate within the OPSWF Framework and to engage with other key actors, including standard setters, regulators and the broader industry to further the Framework’s objectives. The goal is to accelerate the understanding and integration of the implications of climate-related risks and opportunities within long-term investment portfolios through sharing of investment practices and expertise with the members of the OPSWF and publication of relevant research.
“Partnering with clients to tackle the most pressing sustainability issues and create a better future for all is at the heart of what we do. We are proud to be the first German investor to be joining the OPAM. We are committed to advance the understanding of the implications of climate-related risks and opportunities within long-term investment portfolios through the sharing of investment practices”, commented Tobias Pross, CEO.
In this sense, he pointed out that Allianz GI looks forward to contributing to the work of the One Planet Initiatives given their experience in climate finance through their “investment process, strong stewardship policy, and investment solutions that contribute positively to the alignment of an asset owner’s portfolio to a low carbon economy”.
This new commitment comes as, recognizing the urgency to tackle climate change, the firm is accelerating its sustainability drive. In fact, they announced earlier this year their commitment to supporting the climate transition via exclusions in coal production and coal-based energy production. Besides, Allianz GI is a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and supports the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. It is also an original member of the EC’s Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Sustainable Finance and co-founded the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected just about every sector worldwide and in 2020 brought the travel and hotel industry to a halt. But if history’s any guide, past crises (e.g., 9/11 and the Global Financial Crisis) have shown us that travel and leisure is a highly resilient industry.
While pandemic challenges have curtailed travel spending over the past couple of years, pockets of pent-up demand, pandemic-driven lifestyle shifts, increased digitization, and creative new business models have helped the travel and lodging industry stay afloat and recover.
What factors support the resurgence of the air travel and hotel sectors, and what do they mean for investors looking for opportunities in this space? Here are our thoughts on the key trends ahead.
Strong V-Shaped Recovery for Lodging on the Back of Supportive Trends
Throughout the pandemic, the hospitality sector was forced to get more creative and efficient in order to survive. The tenacity to reinvent itself enabled the industry to enjoy a V-shaped recovery across different countries soon after COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions were eased as seen below.
Two Key Trends Stand Out in the Hotel Reinvention Playbook
While large hotel chains cut costs and sought to improve the efficiency of their businesses, many smaller hotel chains and independent operators had to reimagine their business models in order to withstand pandemic impacts. During this time, these smaller operators began to form revenue-sharing partnerships with larger, well-established global hotel chains, such as Marriott or Hyatt. The benefits of these pacts are two-fold:
The smaller players are able to take advantage of the hefty marketing, distribution, and operational infrastructure of the larger hotels.
And by acquiring and partnering with local, more boutique hotels, larger chain properties could broaden their location and client experiences, as well as diversify their revenue streams.
Another trend that has played a role in the transformation of the hotel industry: lifestyle changes. As remote work gained widespread acceptance during the pandemic, the “work from anywhere” movement flourished. The normalization of remote work allowed people the freedom to combine work and leisure, taking extended trips to destinations they may not normally have gone to. Consequently, the “work-cation” trend gave rise to a brand-new customer group and demand for the hotel sector. In particular, alternative lodging like Airbnb became one of the key beneficiaries of this new lifestyle shift. Last, with an increase in remote workers, corporations are driving a renewed demand for hotel nights as these corporation regularly seek to bring employees and teams together for in-person collaboration events.
Pent-Up Demand Fuels Airlines’ Flightpath of Recovery
Unlike the hotel sector, the airline industry’s post-COVID recovery has been more gradual — despite a strong surge in recent air-travel demand, which has been driven by domestic travel. Although airline revenues have been rising as COVID-19 restrictions have been gradually lifted and travelers returned, the industry is challenged with keeping costs under control as it grapples with staffing shortages and inflationary pressures.
With a strong desire to travel, however, consumers haven’t been deterred by steep increases in airline prices, cancelled and delayed flights, or poor service issues. In addition, business travel also has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels due to companies reopening offices and reestablishing client-travel visits. Given these trends, we don’t expect market demand to soften going forward nor do we envision the so-called “death of corporate travel” to materialize.
What About Fresh Opportunities in a Post-Covid World and ‘Zero-Covid’ China?
We see many opportunities in the market today as well as some levels of uncertainty, not the least of which center around inflation, geopolitical instability, and other factors that may weigh on the market. However, we also believe travel and leisure demand is strong and shows no signs of slowing down.
Despite inflationary pressures, leisure travel continues to be a high budget priority for many Americans, especially across the middle to higher income groups who have shifted their spending habits from goods to services. These factors have made US travel and lodging companies attractive investment opportunities given the runway in view for sustained growth.
Last, China’s travel and hotel industry has been slow to recover due to the government’s “zero-Covid” policy. We recognize that the sector’s path to recovery will likely not be a straightforward one. However, we believe there could be significant upside potential in this country once China reopens and eases travel restrictions. Instead of shunning Chinese travel and hotel stocks, we’re taking an opportunistic view on the situation — focusing on searching for attractive buying opportunities while prices and valuations are still at depressed levels.
In summary, there are pockets of opportunity in the travel and lodging sector when looking through the lens of a post-COVID world or in regions where COVID mitigation is still the driving priority.
En resumen, hay oportunidades en el sector de turismo y alojamiento si miramos a través de las gafas de un mundo post-covid o en regiones donde la mitigación del covid todavía sigue siendo la prioridad.
Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Allfunds y ConsenSys colaboran para aplicar la tecnología de Allfunds Blockchain más allá del sector de los fondos de inversión
The Allfunds-ConsenSys partnership reaches a new milestone: ConsenSys will commercialize Quorum Subscription with Allfunds Privacy, a new commercial offering that makes it possible for enterprises to leverage the innovative privacy features developed for the Allfunds Blockchain platform.
In February 2021, both firms announced a partnership to combine ConsenSys Quorum with the power of the Allfunds Funds Industry Platform in order to radically streamline the global fund distribution industry by enabling instant, reliable, secure communication among industry actors. This new launch opens the possibility to apply the privacy enhancements beyond the original Allfunds Blockchain Fund Industry use case.
In a press release, Allfunds and Consensys have revealed that selected consulting firms, as well as technology and blockchain companies have been testing alpha versions of the solution to understand the possibilities opened up by this new privacy approach, that contributes to the continued development of the Enterprise Ethereum ecosystem.
Quorum Subscription with Allfunds Privacy is a new commercial private transaction management solution that further expands the permissioning and privacy features of the Quorum suite and provides a new privacy model. It is based on patented technology created by Allfunds Blockchain, that is from now on maintained and commercially supported by ConsenSys.
Allfunds Blockchain, the dedicated software company focused on developing solutions not only for Allfunds and its clients but for the entire fund Industry, has built a “holistic and trailblazing” blockchain platform using its patented technology to transform technologically the fund industry. The firms point out that Quorum Subscription with Allfunds Privacy solves “major concerns” about data governance in blockchain ecosystems. Allfunds Blockchain is already collaborating with main industry players around the world to be fully prepared for a non-paper-driven industry.
“We are very proud about this new milestone. The most important thing in a blockchain initiative is clearly the technology, and having a leading firm as ConsenSys commercializing our technology beyond the Fund Industry is the best example to demonstrate how robust is our value proposition. Helping to solve the main data governance challenges in blockchain networks with this new privacy approach, contributes without doubt to the continued development of the Enterprise Ethereum ecosystem”, said Rubén Nieto, Managing Director of Allfunds Blockchain.
Lastly, Madeline Murray, Product Lead at Consensys Quorum, stated that their partnership with Allfunds will further facilitate global blockchain adoption for the fund’s industry and “enrich the ecosystem” with technical innovations suitable for advanced privacy use cases. “Privacy is a core element of the ConsenSys Quorum stack and collaborating with industry stakeholders will help produce the most sophisticated blockchain architecture for our partners”, she added.
Brazilians have increasingly started to invest internationally. In this context, AXA Investment Managers and XP Investments have partnered to bring strategies focusing on technological disruption and sustainable investments. Their collaboration started in 2020 to launch feeder funds in Brazil and today it has grown to exceed 1 billion reals in assets.
“The strategy is at the forefront of where technological innovation and the need for a more sustainable world meet, and it will provide investors in Brazil access to a vast and diverse set of innovative business opportunities that aim to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the most polluting and harmful industries”, pointed out AXA IM in a press release.
In this sense, it has identified four key areas that represent the most attractive investment opportunities within the Clean Economy strategy: Low Carbon Transport, Smart Energy, Agriculture & Food and Natural Resources Preservation. “These sectors have the potential for long-term profitability and growth, while making a positive impact on the environment”, they said.
The asset manager believes that its focus on technological disruption was key to bring to Brazil a strategy focusing on companies that allowed our lives to continue during the lockdowns, including companies in fintech, the cloud, remote working, streaming, video games, artificial intelligence, etc. “Investors in Brazil have also become captivated by sustainable and socially responsible investing. We believe we are in front of a multi-decade growth opportunity in areas such as low-carbon transportation, renewable energy, and smart grids. Electric and Hydrogen fuel-cell battery technologies are very exciting. Other areas include Agri-tech, and the development of healthier and organic foods, recycling, and water preservation”, AXA IM commented.
The firm has currently more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Founded in 1997 in Paris, it has grown into a global powerhouse in asset management, with a presence in more than 20 countries and major investment centers in the US, UK, France, and Hong Kong.
Colchester has announced in a press release that its three flagship Irish UCITS funds (Colchester Global Bond Fund, Colchester Global Real Return Bond Fund and Colchester Local Markets Bond Fund) are now being offered to BNY Mellon Pershing’s clients.
The funds will be available to their introducing broker-dealers and registered investment advisors using BNY Mellon Pershing’s NetX360® platform upon the execution of an agreement with Colchester Global Investors’ Fund.
“We’re very pleased with bringing our core strategies to the Latin American and US offshore markets where we have had immense support to make this listing possible. The simplicity of our investment process and the exclusive focus on global sovereign bonds and currencies have resonated with investors in a heavily fixed income biased region”, said Global Head of Marketing and Client Services, Paul Allen.
In his view, their global sovereign bond strategies have experienced strong interest from advisers who are seeking both value and a defensive fixed income alternative for their client portfolios. “With our long track record of displaying negative correlation to risk assets including credit, we are sought out as the anchor in portfolios,” Allen explained.
He revealed that investors have also welcomed their expertise in local currency emerging markets to complement their “aggressive fixed income exposure” through the Colchester Local Markets Bond Fund USD Unhedged Accumulation Class – I Share class (ISIN IE00BQZJ1775), which has received a 5-Star Morningstar RatingTM as of 31/8/20211.
“Nuestro punto de diferencia es que solo invertimos en bonos soberanos físicos en nuestros fondos principales, lo que garantiza la liquidez en todos los mercados y una simplicidad que los clientes pueden comprender. En Colchester, nos enorgullecemos de nuestra alineación con nuestros clientes como inversores a largo plazo en lugar de realizar apuestas a corto plazo “, concluyó Allen.
Los fondos estarán disponibles de inmediato a través de varios acuerdos existentes con corredores de bolsa orientados a la gestión de patrimonios, asesores de inversión registrados (RIA) e instituciones.
Pixabay CC0 Public DomainCompañías fuertes y con capacidad para crecer con el paso del tiempo. . Fibra
Nobody wants to invest in questionable, weak, unethical or incompetent companies. And investing in the right company for financial success is the holy grail we’re all searching for. This clearly isn’t easy, and nobody is perfect. If they were, they would be the only investment option in town. Thornburg IM has asked four of its equity portfolio managers (Brian McMahon, Miguel Oleaga, Lei Wang and Josh Rubin) what their criteria are for identifying strong companies from the relevant universe for their respective strategies, what impact the COVID- 19 pandemic has had and how ESG considerations are relevant to determining whether a company is strong.
Can you describe your research process?
Miguel Oleaga: Our process involves narrowing the universe of stocks by looking for what we believe are strong companies, which drive idea generation. We perform deep fundamental research on those names, ultimately generating a short list of investable ideas and then investigating those ideas thoroughly. The Global Opportunities portfolios utilize an intrinsic value framework that seeks to understand if a business is likely to create value over the long-term, with less of an emphasis on near-term valuation metrics. Often market commentators and investors attempt to assess valuations and opportunities simply on near-term statistical metrics, such as a P/E or a P/B multiple. In our view, these can be useful datapoints but do not paint the complete picture of whether a business is fairly valued. To be able to thoroughly analyze and determine intrinsic value, we need to know what we own and therefore limit our holdings to about 30–40 stocks.
Josh Rubin: A key consideration for our emerging markets investment strategies is really honing in on the strong businesses, not just high profit margins, but a really strong management team, strong corporate governance, strong operational policies, strong market positions and the other types of components that lead companies to win market share or outgrow their industry competitors.
Lei (“Rocky”) Wang: We think in the next phase of the recovery the outperformance of higher beta value names may give way to companies which can demonstrate earnings growth and may therefore favor bottom-up stock selection and a more balanced core approach to portfolio construction, both of which we have practiced successfully for more than two decades.
What adaptations to the process have you made as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting changes in the environment?
Miguel Oleaga: We haven’t made any changes to our process. We believe a well-thought-out and executed philosophy and process should withstand the tests of time. I do think COVID has changed the investment landscape. For example, the recent increase in retail participation in equity markets means more investors competing in the market, which, ultimately, should make the markets more efficient with periods of excessive price moves. However, increased market efficiency also means simple strategies that utilize valuation multiples or other metrics that can be easily accessed via online trading platforms or financial websites will create little to no excess returns on average. In fact, greater retail participation will mean that achieving excess returns consistently makes having a well-thought-out investment philosophy and rigorous process even more critical to add value over time.
Rocky Wang: We haven’t changed our process, but where we focus has shifted.For example, the inflation narrative and sentiment are getting hot these days, which trigger sometimes erratic rate movements. But we focus on fundamentals rather than headlines, so we are always trying to see the reality vs. perception.
Commodity prices are definitely in the news these days as they have been shooting up. Is that due to the shortage of the commodity production itself, or just a paucity of qualified drivers who can deliver the commodity from point A to B? Is it transitory or structural in nature? We care about the depth of the details like that and how to construct a portfolio which will sail through this noisy patch.
Brian McMahon: Our process of finding investments that offer both resilience and growth over time has remained consistent. If you look at our top holdings, you’ll see that we have both. We’re not loaded up with companies that have plus and minus 20 percent revenues, based on the cycle, but we do have companies that have tended to grow their revenue, cash flow and dividends over time. And that’s what the Income Builder portfolios are all about.
It’s a yield-starved world out there. So, we think that dividend payers are especially important and especially timely right nowwhen some of the safest bonds and longer duration bonds look a little iffy.
How do ESG considerations help determine whether a company is “strong” or not?
Miguel Oleaga: ESG considerations provide investors with a toolkit for assessing whether a business is creating value for all its stakeholders, from employees to its community to shareholders. ESG also provides insight into analyzing a business’s go-forward prospects—a lens on whether that company is competing in expanding or contracting markets due to evolving environmental or regulatory considerations, for example.
Governance is another important set of issues where poor practice can lead to substantial corporate risk such as expensive legal actions and negative publicity. In our opinion, these insights about where risks lie are crucial in determining what the business is worth and providing effective stewardship of the investment.
Josh Rubin: Particularly in emerging markets where transparency might be lower or the regulatory oversight regime might not be as strong or as advanced as we see in developed markets, we do think that consideration of ESG characteristics are very important for every investment.
We are not using a negative overlay investment strategy—not avoiding, for example, carbon-producing or alcohol beverage companies, but we look at each of the relevant industry risk factors of ESG to be sure we are mitigating risk in our portfolios, particularly in an emerging markets context, which can mean higher volatility, abrupt shifts from value to growth and vice versa, a heavy retail component and less sophisticated investors.
Rocky Wang: We use ESG analysis to find what we believe are financially sustainable businesses. At the end of the day, active managers identify mispricings in the market to create a diversified portfolio that will outperform. ESG analysis is a powerful tool to help accomplish that goal.
Understanding the stage in a company’s lifecycle is important for both traditional fundamental and material ESG analysis. Emerging franchises often race to grow employee headcount, assets and processes to support early life hyper growth. As a company begins to mature it can leverage these resources to more fully capture profits from the competitive advantages it has established. But it can also take a deeper examination of its impact on society and work to align its business with benefits for the communities in which it operates.
Important Information
The performance data quoted represents past performance; it does not guarantee future results.
Unless otherwise noted, the source of all data, charts, tables and graphs is Thornburg Investment Management, Inc.
The views expressed are subject to change and do not necessarily reflect the views of Thornburg Investment Management, Inc. This information should not be relied upon as a recommendation or investment advice and is not intended to predict the performance of any investment or market.
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Investments carry risks, including possible loss of principal. Portfolios investing in bonds have the same interest rate, inflation, and credit risks that are associated with the underlying bonds. The value of bonds will fluctuate relative to changes in interest rates, decreasing when interest rates rise. This effect is more pronounced for longer-term bonds. Unlike bonds, bond funds have ongoing fees and expenses. Investments in lower rated and unrated bonds may be more sensitive to default, downgrades, and market volatility; these investments may also be less liquid than higher rated bonds. Investments in derivatives are subject to the risks associated with the securities or other assets underlying the pool of securities, including illiquidity and difficulty in valuation. Investments in equity securities are subject to additional risks, such as greater market fluctuations. Additional risks may be associated with investments outside the United States, especially in emerging markets, including currency fluctuations, illiquidity, volatility, and political and economic risks. Investments in the Fund are not FDIC insured, nor are they bank deposits or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity.
Portfoliosinvestedinalimitednumber of holdings may expose an investor to greater volatility.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. Environmental criteria consider how a company performs as a steward of nature. Social criteria examine how it manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates. Governance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights.
Investing in an ESG-focused strategy does not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.
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This does not constitute or contain an offer, solicitation, recommendation or investment advice with respect to the purchase of the Funds described herein or any security. The Fund’s shares may not be sold to citizens or residents of the United States or in any other state, country or jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to offer, solicit an offer for, or sell the shares. For information regarding the jurisdictions in which the Fund is registered or passported, please contact Thornburg at contactglobal@thornburg.com or +1.855.732.9301. Fund shares may be sold on a private placement basis depending on thejurisdiction. This should not be used or distributed in any jurisdiction, other than in those in which the Fund is authorized, where authorization for distribution is required. Thornburg is authorized by the Fund to facilitate the distribution of shares of the Fund in certain jurisdictions through dealers, referral agents, sub-distributors and other financial intermediaries. Any entity forwarding this, which is produced by Thornburg in the United States, to other parties takes full responsibility for ensuring compliance with applicable securities laws in connection with its distribution.
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Investments carry risks, including possible loss of principal. Portfolios investing in bonds have the same interest rate, inflation, and credit risks that are associated with the underlying bonds. The value of bonds will fluctuate relative to changes in interest rates, decreasing when interest rates rise. Unlike bonds, bond funds have ongoing fees and expenses. Investments in mortgagebacked securities (MBS) may bear additional risk. Investments in the Fund are not insured, nor are they bank deposits or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity.
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Pixabay CC0 Public Domain. Las finanzas se mantienen como una de las opciones profesionales preferidas entre los jóvenes
CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, has recently released the results from a survey it conducted on the career outlook of more than 15,000 current university students and recent graduates aged 18-25 from 15 markets. Globally, 58% of respondents still feel confident about their future career prospects in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Traditionally stable fields, such as finance, remain attractive for graduates navigating these uncertain times”, the report points out. In fact, respondents across all 15 markets ranked this sector as one of the top five most valuable majors for finding a career. Overall, graduates felt that medicine/science was most stable and attractive, followed by healthcare and then education.
“Students and recent graduates are more flexible and confident about their prospects than ever. The pandemic forced many grads to reassess their expected career paths, and they have displayed remarkable resilience despite the circumstances. It is now incumbent on companies to adapt to the new realities, such as hybrid workplaces, in order to attract and retain the young talent we need to help lead us out of the pandemic”, said Margaret Franklin, CFA, President and CEO at CFA Institute.
She finds “encouraging” to see that many graduates still view finance as a stable and attractive career path; however, they currently don’t see the industry as making a positive social impact. “This issue is only going to increase in importance, and industry leaders need to make sure we are on the front foot in educating students about the positive impact an investment career can have for people and our planet,” Franklin concluded.
The survey shows that a majority of graduates believe their future career will be as good or better than their parents’ generation, despite the pandemic. Findings showed that those studying accounting and finance were particularly confident, with 80% believing their prospects are as good or better than their parents’ generation, compared to three quarters (75%) of respondents overall.
Skills and insecurities
Another primary concern for students is developing work-related skills during degree programs and after graduating. Those surveyed shared personal insecurities about this, with a quarter of respondents saying they feel underqualified for the job they want, and 22% saying they do not feel ready for the working world.
When approaching the current complex job market, students and graduates see value in further education. Nearly nine in 10 respondents feel that upskilling and post-graduate qualifications are important in the current job market, and 57% believe postgraduate qualifications/professional certification will give them an edge when looking for a job.
Working in an industry that makes a positive societal and environmental contribution ranks very important to recent graduates, with nearly nine in 10 respondents saying it’s an important part of their career choice. For CFA Institute, of concern is that only 8% of respondents consider a career in investment management as one in which they could make a positive environmental and societal impact. This finding shows that, to retain talent, the sector must do more to educate students around the positive impact they could have in an investment industry career.
“Graduates may be unaware of the remarkable global trend towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and the career opportunities a specialism in sustainability and ESG could offer them in the investment industry. We need to show them that investment careers can be rewarding well beyond the traditional attraction of higher salaries,” commented Peter Watkins, who leads the University Affiliation Program at CFA Institute in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Foto cedida. Aegon AM amplía su equipo de Inversión Responsable con tres nuevos especialistas
Aegon Asset Management has announced that Andy Woods, Curtis Zappala and Jamie McAloon will be joining its Responsible Investment team, bringing the number of specialists in this division to 17.
Based in the UK, Andy Woods arrives as a responsible investment manager, supporting the Equities and Multi-Asset investment platforms. His primary responsibility will be the voting activities and related engagements with companies within Aegon AM’s portfolios. Previously, he headed up the Institutional Voting Information Service of the Association of British Insurers.
The firm has also appointed Curtis Zappala as a responsible investment associate. Based in the United States, his focus will be on ESG integration and engagement, supporting the fixed income investment platform. Prior to his new role, Zappala was a member of the sustainability team at United Parcel Service (UPS). He has also held various sustainable-related positions at SunShare and Growth International Volunteer Excursions.
Finally, Jamie McAloon joins as a responsible investment associate, supporting the Equities and Multi-Asset investment platforms. Also based in UK, McAloon will be primarily responsible for supporting the sustainable range of products with analysis of existing and potential holdings, according to Aegon AM’s sustainability research framework. He joins the business from Abrdn, where he was a Private Equity Finance Analyst.
“We have built a comprehensive responsible investment approach, with a 30-year history of investing in this area. The three new appointments allow us to continue our work, broadening our expertise, knowledge and skills base. I’d like to welcome Curtis, Andy and Jamie to the team and look forward to the fresh perspective and enthusiasm they will bring”, commented, Brunno Maradei, head of responsible investment at Aegon AM.
