Columbia Threadneedle called on Merian Global Investors and Fidelity International to strengthen its British and European equities teams.

Kunal Kothari joined the company as an analyst on the 15-person UK Equities team, reporting to Chris Kinder, Senior Alpha UK Equity Strategies Manager. He has 14 years of experience, the last eight as a researcher of UK companies in various industries at Merian Global Investors.

Jamie Lewis has joined as an analyst for European Small Business Strategies together with managers Philip Dicken and Mine Tezgul. He previously worked at Fidelity International as an equity research analyst covering small European companies.

Columbia Threadneedle CIO EMEA and Global Head of Equities William Davies said: “As an active asset manager, research intensity underpins our approach to investing. We manage £ 39bn for our UK and European equity clients and Kunal and Jamie bring with them extensive experience and knowledge of investing in these markets.

“Our collaborative culture within the investment team, combined with our focus on research intensity, allows us to uncover new opportunities and generate consistent performance for clients over the long term. “

Threadneedle has 160 investment analysts across the company.

By Sebastian Cheek, Jun 15, 21

They discuss how life and the markets are very intertwined.

Toms joined Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management in 2014. He co-manages the sustainable investment strategies, in addition to supporting the management of the prudent investment strategy. From 2012 to 2013, he was an investment banking analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Toms graduated from the London School of Economics with a top-notch degree in economics, then earned a Masters of Commerce (Behavioral Science) from Warwick Business School.

He holds the Private Client Investment Advice & Management certificate, the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement and the CFA UK Certificate in ESG Investing.

He is also CFA.

Influencers in ESG investment – in partnership with Fidelity International

Fidelity International is delighted to partner with Investment week to support the ESG Investment Influencer series.

In an increasingly complex and changing world of sustainable investing, gaining insight into the industry’s top influencers is essential to help us shape the way we communicate and highlight our active engagement approach.

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Sustainable investment festival, June 22-25

Investment week Parent company Incisive Media will host its first sustainable investing festival this summer, with keynote speakers, innovative events and sessions to help investors navigate this rapidly evolving area of ​​the market. Click here for more information.

the Glasgow-The headquartered group has so far installed over 1.5 million home smart meters and is currently committed to supplying an additional 2.5 million smart meters to UK consumers as part of its commercial agreements with suppliers of energy.

The supply agreement with Aclara means that SMS will now offer utilities the SciFlo® ultrasonic gas meter – a new dual-band device and the most compact gas meter on the market – which has been approved for deployment of mass earlier this year.

Commenting on the agreement, Tim mortlock, Chief Operating Officer of SMS, said: “I am delighted to confirm the extension of our relationship with Aclara which secures the supply of one million additional smart meters to be installed as part of our ongoing backlog. increase. This testifies to our mission to deliver Brittany low-carbon future, for which the continuation and acceleration of the deployment of smart meters is an absolute prerequisite. “

The introduction of the dual band functionality offered by SciFlo® is a crucial step in the deployment of second generation smart meters (SMETS2). The technology could potentially unlock around 25% of UK housing stock which is currently experiencing connectivity issues, such as apartments and houses with thick walls, allowing millions more homes to benefit from smart meters.

Mortlock added, “Our partnership with Aclara isn’t just about volume, it’s also about delivering real innovation. As we continue to work together to develop next-generation devices for the UK market, our aim is to help energy providers and consumers make the most of the smart transition to delivering energy solutions. smarter, cost savings and carbon reductions. “

This is not the first time that SMS and Aclara have teamed up to innovate in the field of meters. Last August, SMS became the first installer in the country to adapt to a SMETS2 three-phase after working with Aclara to develop the solution for UK utilities.

Jason subirana, Vice President of Metering Division at Aclara, said: “The growing partnership between Aclara and SMS demonstrates how access to a complete single source solution offers a distinct advantage in the market. The availability of a comprehensive portfolio of SMETS2 meters ensures that UK energy providers and providers of meter assets like SMS are better equipped to fulfill smart meter mandates in the UK. “

Notes to Editors

About SMS
SMS [www.sms-plc.com] finances, installs, operates and manages smart meters and carbon reduction assets (“CaRe”) that facilitate a smarter, greener and more affordable energy system. Established in 1995, SMS further provides energy strategy services to large organizations in the private and public sectors, including a smart solar and battery storage solution for social landlords, Solo power. SMS is currently a partner in numerous net zero consumption demonstration projects, including the installation of curbside EV charging stations nationwide and the creation of a smart and autonomous energy island in Orkney, Scotland. With its mission to lead the low carbon smart energy revolution, SMS is committed to reducing its own carbon emissions to net zero by 2030. The company is headquartered in Glasgow with 12 locations across the UK and Ireland and employs over 1,000 people.

SMS media contact: Aled Bryon, Public Relations Manager | [email protected]

About Aclara
Aclara, a division of Hubbell Utility Solutions, is a world-class provider of intelligent infrastructure (SIS) solutions and services to more than 1,000 water, gas and electricity utilities around the world. Aclara SIS offerings include smart meters and other field devices, advanced metering infrastructure, and software and services that enable utilities to predict and respond to conditions, efficiently operate their distribution networks and to dialogue with their customers. Aclara has been recognized for her end-to-end solution vision and strategy by Navigant Research, won a Technology Leadership Award for Global Smart Energy Grids as well as a North American New Product Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan ,. Visit us at Aclara.com or subscribe to our blog.

Aclara media contacts:
Nancy talley
Manager, Marketing Communications
440-528-7287
[email protected]

SOURCE Aclara

Related links

http://www.aclara.com

Asset price bubbles are not what they used to be, which tells us something about the economy.

Historically, bubbles have been associated with optimism and even utopia. In his classic The great crash of 1929 JK Galbraith described how the 1920s bubble was fueled by “boundless hope and optimism”. 1928, he writes, “was the last year that Americans were vibrant, uninhibited, and totally happy.” Likewise, bubbles in internet stocks in the late 1990s or rail stocks in the 1840s were accompanied by the idea that new technologies would transform society and the economy and that investors were buying them in part because that they thought they had a better future.

High asset prices today, on the other hand, are not based on optimism but on pessimism. The high valuations of America’s big tech companies owe a lot to the belief that their monopoly power is ingrained and persistent. This indicates pessimism about the strength of competition and creative destruction, which are the forces that have traditionally fostered economic growth. And the now faltering cryptocurrency boom is based in part on expectations that people will lose faith in “fiat money” – something that is only likely (if it does happen at all) in a horrific political crisis and economic.

Even high house prices are partly a sign of pessimism. On the one hand, they were pushed largely (if do not entirely) by low interest rates which are themselves a symptom of economic stagnation. My chart shows that as real interest rates have fallen since the 1980s, the ratio of house prices to earnings has increased. And the fact that people are using cheap money to buy homes rather than productive assets is in itself a sign of a lack of investment opportunities.

Also, as Willem Buiter, a former MPC member said, housing is do not net wealth. Rising house prices only transfer wealth to owners and to the detriment of potential buyers and tenants. In this sense, rising house prices are different from rising stock prices, which (if held up) denotes an increase in real wealth.

What we have seen, then, is an important but overlooked change. While bubbles were once associated with hope, they are now associated with pessimism.

This does not mean that there is no technique breakthroughs now. The are. Our escape from the pandemic is due to developments in messenger RNA, and green energy offers a lot of hope. One of the reasons investors should consider private equity funds is that they give us early exposure to companies using these technologies.

Similarly, therefore, many technologies have not (yet?) Enriched investors with equity. 3D printing, the Internet of Things, neural networks and graphene have been discussed for years, but few of us have seen the benefits in our portfolios.

In a sense, pessimistic bubbles are a sign that investors have taken notice. The mistake they made in the dot-com bubble was Aswath Damodaran of New York University. called the “great illusion of the market”. They correctly saw that internet shopping would be an important thing, but drew the wrong conclusion – that many businesses would benefit. In fact, the competition for the market, the ease of access and the difficulty of expansion meant that many never made a profit and went bankrupt. Like Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus wrote, “Most of the benefits of technological change are passed on to consumers rather than captured by producers.”

Investors have now largely corrected this error. They now know that what matters most to a business is not the size of its potential market, but rather its market power – its ability to convert such growth into profits. Hence the high valuations of firms with monopoly power – whether they are as different as Microsoft (US: MSFT), Diageo (DGE) or Games workshop (GAW). Investors have lost their illusions about capitalism: they now realize that what matters is the result, not the romance stories on “the rapid improvement of all instruments of production”.

This recognition of the importance of the monopoly is, however, the counterpart of stagnation. As Thomas Philippon of New York University has documented, declining competition and the rise of monopolies is one of the causes of the slowdown in long-term growth in the United States – hence the disappearance of bubbles based on optimism.

Which is a particular example of what Northwestern University’s Joel Mokyr has called Cardwell’s Law (named after economic historian Donald Cardwell): “Every society, when left on its own, will only be technologically creative for short periods of time.” Ultimately, he wrote, “the forces of conservatism” slow creativity down as they preserve their own power and privilege – in this case by strengthening monopoly power. In a world where the forces of conservatism have prevailed, we are less likely to see optimistic growth-based speculation.

Maybe every society gets the bubbles it deserves – and ours has dystopian ones.

Legal & General Investment Management will sell stakes in four companies, including US insurer American International Group Inc., after it believes they are making insufficient progress in managing climate change risks.

The UK asset manager said in a statement on Tuesday that it would also sell its investments in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Pennsylvania-based power company PPL Corp. and China Mengniu Dairy Co. or violated “red lines” around the involvement of coal, carbon disclosures or deforestation, “he said.

Climate change is a pressing concern for fund managers: the physical impacts of global warming, such as extreme heat and rising sea levels, as well as the possibility of a rapid and chaotic transition from fossil fuels, pose significant risks. for investors. This leads investment firms to put more pressure on the companies they own to reduce their emissions and prepare for a low carbon future.

Read more: The world’s largest insurers “fail” to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss

“A lot of light opens between leaders and laggards,” said Yasmine Svan, senior sustainability analyst at LGIM. “Climate change is important and constitutes a major risk. Achieving a net zero goal by 2050 is the safest outcome for clients. “

Last action

The latest move by the investment arm of Legal & General Group Plc comes after it announced in October that it would engage on climate issues with more than 1,000 companies that together are responsible for more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions produced by listed companies. By abandoning the four companies, the asset manager is following through on its threat to sell stakes if the companies fail to meet its minimum standards, including full disclosure of emissions. LGIM said it could also vote against the management of the companies.

LGIM sells its stake in AIG due to the insurer’s lack of policies on excluding thermal coal insurance and because it has not yet disclosed figures on the amount of emissions it finances, measures that LGIM considers a minimum standard for the industry, Svan said. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will also be scrapped due to its approach to thermal coal, she said.

The UK fund manager also re-established a company it had previously sold. U.S. food retailer Kroger Co. reinstated following improvements to its deforestation policies and disclosure, as well as efforts to promote plant-based products that have lower climate impact . ICBC’s chief economist said last month that the bank “will establish a roadmap and timetable for phasing out coal funding,” according to the South China Morning Post.

Fund universe

While LGIM manages a total of 1.3 trillion pounds ($ 1.8 trillion), its climate change engagement and divestment approach only applies to funds with £ 58 billion of active. Svan said the approach is applied to funds for which LGIM is “contractually able to divest” and does not apply to most index funds where LGIM must track the composition of the benchmark.

“Each of the companies we invest in on behalf of our clients has many stakeholders beyond us as asset managers, including its employees and suppliers,” said Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO of LGIM, in a press release. “Climate change will affect each of these stakeholders, not least because of its growing financial materiality, so we must use our influence as shareholders to raise standards across the market for the benefit of all.”

Photograph: AIG headquarters in New York. Photo credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

The subjects
AIG carriers

Hedge funds plan to dramatically increase their exposure to cryptocurrencies by 2026, new survey finds, in major vote of confidence for digital assets after recent sharp price drops and plans for punitive new capital rules .

A survey of 100 chief financial officers of hedge funds around the world, conducted by fund administrator Intertrust, found that executives expect to hold an average of 7.2% of their assets in cryptocurrency within five years.

If replicated across the industry, that could amount to a total of around $ 312 billion in crypto assets, based on data group Preqin’s forecast for the total industry size. hedge funds, Intertrust said. Seventeen percent of respondents expected to have more than 10 percent in crypto.

This would represent a sharp increase in the appetite of hedge funds. Current holdings in the industry are unclear, but a number of high-profile managers have already pledged small sums in crypto assets, drawn by soaring prices and market inefficiencies they can arbitrate.

Man Group trades bitcoin futures in its computerized AHL unit, while Renaissance Technologies said last year that its flagship fund Medallion may invest in bitcoin futures. Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones bought Bitcoin, while Brevan Howard shifted a small portion of the funds to crypto and his co-founder, billionaire Alan Howard, is a major industry funder.

Bitcoin is the biggest contributor to this year’s earnings for U.S. fund firm SkyBridge Capital, set up by former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, which started buying it late last year. then reduced its stake in April – just ahead of the token price. tear down.

Hedge funds “are well aware of not only the risks but also the long-term potential” of cryptos, said David Miller, executive director of Quilter Cheviot Investment Management.

The growing enthusiasm for hedge funds contrasts sharply with widespread skepticism among more traditional asset managers, many of whom remain concerned about the enormous volatility and uncertainty of cryptocurrencies as to how they will be regulated.

“At this time, crypto investments remain limited to clients who have a high tolerance for risk and even then investments generally represent a small proportion of assets to invest,” said Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman, the firm. advice, in a recent report on asset management. .

Some hedge funds remain suspicious. Paul Singer’s Elliott Management wrote to investors earlier this year that cryptocurrencies could potentially become “the biggest financial scam in history” in a letter seen by the Financial Times.

Cryptos have been on a wild ride again this year. Bitcoin rose from less than $ 29,000 at the end of last year to over $ 63,000 in April, but has since fallen back to just over $ 40,000.

While the future regulation of cryptos remains uncertain, last week the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision said they should apply the strictest bank capital rules of all assets.

The Intertrust survey, whose respondents include CFOs from around the world of funds that manage an average of $ 7.2 billion in assets, also showed that all executives surveyed in North America, Europe and the UK expect to have at least 1% of their portfolio in crypto.

North American funds expect 10.6% exposure on average, while UK and European funds expect 6.8% on average.

[email protected]

Matter Real Estate, a European real estate investment company spun off from ESO Capital, has invested in an affordable housing provider as part of its value-added and opportunistic residential strategy in the UK.

Matter has invested an undisclosed amount in Auxesia Homes, a Cheshire-based affordable housing provider, in a deal that complements its existing investments in affordable housing companies Placefirst and St Arthur Homes.

The real estate company said real estate investor Cordia co-invested in Auxesia alongside Matter. Cordia has partnered with Matter on a number of transactions in recent months, including an investment in St Arthur Homes.

Matter said his investment will help Auxesia expand its portfolio to more than 1,300 homes over the next five years.

“In addition to its financial investment, Matter will work closely with Auxesia’s management team to create a premier operating platform and facilitate collaboration with other issuers, including Placefirst. “

Richard Hunt, Director of Matter Real Estate, said: “The agreement aligns with our goal of creating great platforms that have a positive societal impact. We look forward to working with Auxesia’s exceptional leadership team in the years to come and look forward to continuing our partnership with Cordia.

Chris Metcalf, Co-Founder of Auxesia Homes, said: “We are excited to team up with Matter because we believe they really understand our business and share this passion. With their support, we will be able to evolve our platform and address the critical shortage of affordable housing in the North West, Yorkshire and the North Midlands. “

Gábor Futó, founder and majority owner of Cordia, said: “We are delighted to help grow the affordable housing sector.

“Our co-investment in Auxesia is an important next step both in our very successful partnership with Matter Real Estate as well as in our international expansion, in which the UK market plays a key role.”

Cordia also participates in Matter’s Real Asset Fund I which supports developers in the UK and Ireland through structured capital investments.

To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine, click here.

The portfolios benefited from their overweighting in growth companies. They will continue to seek out the many entrepreneurial directions and companies that embrace existing and emerging trends and technologies. However, the past year has seen a reduction in the magnitude of this overweighting to ensure a better balance between the two approaches. The logic is well established.

The disparity in valuations between the two, the increasingly obvious determination of governments to stage a strong economic recovery, the prospect of artificially low interest rates and the attendant risk of higher inflation, all indicate that these companies less. fashionable but still of good quality benefit disproportionately. But maintaining a balance within this now more important “value” component remains just as important as ensuring the balance of the portfolio in general.

Sector balancing

For the reasons outlined in “The Case of Commodities” (July 10, 2020), last year most of the nine true investment trust portfolios managed on the website www.johnbaronportfolios.co.uk, including the two regularly featured in this column, introduced and then added to their exposure to commodities. BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) and CQS Growth and Income of Natural Resources (CYN) were bought at prices between £ 3.38 and £ 4.00 in the first and £ 0.73 and £ 0.86 in the second.

We remain positive on the outlook for commodities. However, due to the extent of the outperformance of BRWM and CYN, including that of BlackRock Energy & Resources Income (BERI), the sector exposure has become disproportionate. BRWM has therefore been sliced ​​or sold in recent months at prices between £ 6.41 and £ 6.89 when it was on a net asset value (NAV) premium, knowing that exposure to the sector remains significant.

Another consideration for some of the portfolios is the requirement of a reasonable or high level of income. Due to the good performances of BRWM, CYN and BERI, their returns have fallen considerably. Other “value” sectors which have lagged behind the commodities sector therefore perhaps offer more potential.

The commercial real estate sector is one example. It had to go through a torrid time because of an unprecedented economic shock involving arrears of rent, higher vacancy rates and lower dividends. However, the prudence of managers and therefore their lack of exposure to development, their focus on income and diversification, and the lack of investment and therefore the shortage of supply, are just some of the positive points. The sector in general is well positioned to benefit from the economic recovery. In addition, the sector offers attractive income opportunities.

Standard Life Property Income (SLI) has a long-term history of good strategic and efficient asset management thanks to Jason Baggaley, its senior manager. The focus on quality assets and the judicious allocation of sub-sectors helped. After a 20 percent dividend cut last year, a 25 percent quarterly dividend increase this year suggests a yield above 5.1 percent. SLI believes that this dividend is sustainable given the current levels of rent collection. The portfolios therefore increased holdings at prices of £ 0.67 and £ 0.70 when they stood at a haircut of around 20%.

A portion of the funds raised through the portfolios’ exposure to commodities was also used to increase exposure to other sustainable sources of income.

For example, the Winter portfolio has been added to GCP Asset Backed Income Fund (GABI) priced at £ 1.01 The company seeks attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in asset-backed loans in social infrastructure, real estate, energy, infrastructure and asset finance . A disciplined approach to portfolio construction and a focus on defensive assets has meant that all interest due has been collected in 2020. A slight discount to net asset value and a 6.4% return on purchase are added to the investment file.

Trade of the decade

Meanwhile, for reasons discussed in last month’s column (“Trade of the Decade?”), Portfolios further increased their exposure to the UK, which also supported income levels.

Examples include City of London (CTY) and BMO UK High Income (BHI) at prices of £ 3.92 and £ 0.94 respectively. CTY has a proud record of dividend growth, under the leadership of its respected manager, Job Curtis – for whom she is recognized by the Association of Investment Companies as a “Dividend Hero”. Recent data suggests that relative performance is improving as the rotation to value stocks continues. An increased dividend and a potential yield of 4.9% on purchase strengthens the investment case.

In recent years, BHI has quietly built up a good track record, again against its goal of “value”. Strong income reserves and a continued movement by the manager to reposition the portfolio to companies with lower yields but with greater potential for dividend growth helped the company to increase its distributions again last year. This search for sustainable dividends led to a non-FTSE 100 bias representing more than 60% of its portfolio. Reasonable discount and 5.6% return on purchase add to the attraction.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh Investment Trust (EDIN) was added for £ 6.28. EDIN recently appointed Majedie Asset Management and is looking for companies in UK with strong business models and good management. Managers take a high conviction approach, while Majedie’s UK portfolio has outperformed the FTSE All-Share by 3% p.a. on average since 2006. A new manager with a good long-term track record, a modest discount to the net asset value and return on purchase suggests patient investors will be rewarded.

Artemis Alpha Trust (ATS) was recently introduced to the Thematic Wallet for £ 4.54. The company takes a “no-holds-barred and opportunistic” approach that best suits the portfolio’s higher risk / return mission. The company’s portfolio is concentrated and deviates significantly from the index. This will increase volatility. However, its performance has been good – for example, last year its net asset value rose 10% while the benchmark, the FTSE All-Share Index, was down 9.8%.

Meanwhile, the website’s portfolios also increased their exposure to UK small businesses. The commentary article “The Future is Small” (February 10, 2021) explains our long-standing positive outlook which has been reflected in the makeup of portfolios over the years. However, the future looks particularly bright as the economy recovers.

Aberforth Split Level Income Trust (ASIT) and Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies (IPU) were introduced in some wallets. ASIT is a split capital investment trust where the zeros represent approximately 33 percent indebtedness. Aberforth are value investors who buy shares of companies they believe are selling below their intrinsic value. Long-term performance has been respectable given the emphasis on value, but has improved markedly in recent times as the rotation to value continues – with returns aided by the gear.

The IPU has a strong track record and a proven investment approach. Unfortunately, the board of directors made the mistake last year of abandoning the company’s stated policy of paying a dividend equal to 4 percent of the share price. It was not well received, and the remission has broadened considerably – such overt policies are useless if dropped on the first shot. The Council accepted its mistake and the policy was recently reinstated. The discount has reduced accordingly, but has not yet fully recovered.

This rebalancing of the value component of portfolios – from commodities to UK equities and commercial real estate – has now largely run its course. However, portfolios will remain nimble to capitalize on opportunities that offer good long-term prospects for the patient investor.

For more portfolios and commentary from John’s company, please visit his website at johnbaronportfolios.co.uk. John Baron has joined a team that forms a separate Baron & Grant discretionary management firm.

Portfolio performance

Growth Returned

January 1, 2009 – May 31, 2021

Portfolio (%) 426.6 289.2

Baseline (%) * 203.0 151.8

Year on May 31, 2021

Portfolio (%) 6.8 5.7

Baseline (%) * 6.6 4.6

Efficiency (%) 2.6 3.1

* MSCI PIMFA Growth and Income benchmarks quoted (total return)