“Although we are number twelve in the world in order of assets under management, we are a relatively unknown player. Come to think of it, we’re probably the biggest asset manager people have never heard of,” said Simon England-Brammer (pictured), senior managing director EMEA and APAC of Nuveen.
With almost USD 1,300 billion, the firm founded in 1898 is one of the world’s largest asset managers. However, the fund house operates somewhat under the radar, or as England-Brammer put it: “You won’t see our name on the side of a bus.”
That, England-Brammer argued, is because parent company TIAA is not listed. The American pension fund with more than 5 million participants (mainly teachers) therefore does not aim to make shareholders rich, but to attract and retain members, he explained. “It is not a mandatory fund: members actively choose TIAA. So we have to do two things well: invest and communicate about those investments.”
According to England-Brammer, the relationship, which is similar to that of APG and ABP, means that Nuveen is actually more of an asset owner than an asset manager. “We are a balance sheet owner. We have pension liabilities to match, a diversification mix to maintain, etcetera.”
The active fund house is therefore a long-term investor, which England-Brammer said is one that does not worry about short-term volatility. “Wars, the most diverse scenarios: in all these years, it has not changed our focus on stable income and a target above the inflation rate. We’ve still managed to do that every year.”
Acquisition
Nuveen has been part of TIAA since 2014. The pension money of the fund’s more than 5 million members accounts for almost a third of Nuveen’s assets under management. England-Brammer refuted the notion that this makes Nuveen very dependent on TIAA. “We have clients in all major markets. Of course, there are markets where we are still in the process of establishing ourselves. After pension funds, insurers and family offices, we are now trying to further diversify into private wealth, for example. And geographically, we have been active outside the United States for years. That started about eight years ago with Europe, Asia-Pacific followed five years ago.”
The investments of these clients are spread across various asset classes, with about a third allocated to alternatives.: “Many, if not all, institutional investors currently have single-digit allocations to alternatives, ”said England-Brammer. “In all the conversations we have, we now hear that they would like to bring that up to 15 per cent or even 20 per cent.”
Within this, real estate is an asset class where many institutional investors feel comfortable and where there are still opportunities, according to England-Brammer. “Real estate has moved towards healthy highs in recent years, but on the debt side, the risk-adjusted return profile is still attractive. Much of the capital goes into US debt structures, but also into the UK market and some specific markets within Asia.”
“Especially mid-market loans and senior loans have the interest of Nuveen within private credit. Specifically, we see a lot of opportunities in infrastructure, but also in investments in agricultural and timberland.”
Dutch investors are also keen on the latter category, said Jeroen Broers, who is also present at the meeting. Actual investments will follow once the new pension system is in place, according to the Benelux head. “Dutch pension funds are waiting a while with large portfolio changes. You don’t want to step in and find out in two years’ time that there is no point in investing because of the new framework.”
Challenge of private
The challenge of private investment remains its liquidity, especially for the client group formed by private wealth. ‘They want access to alternatives, but in a liquid form,” said England-Brammer. “Linking that demand to the supply is difficult, although smart solutions do exist.”
He referred, for example, to investment in listed property funds or in wrappers that combine public and private property. ”But fundamentally, large private wealth platforms could also invest more in the less liquid categories, why not lock in your money for a little longer?”, asked England-Brammer.
The popularity of the category has also led to another current problem: asset managers are having difficulty putting the capital they have attracted to work.“Real estate shares, real estate debt, private equity: so much capital is flowing into all these categories that the deployment rate has gone up from a few quarters to a few years,” explained England-Brammer. “A huge problem, you don’t want to wait a few years.”
Asset managers can make large loans to one company or make a second loan to a company with which they already have a good relationship, but the most important thing, according to England-Brammer, is scale. As a big player you can compete more often, also with deals that are made outside the market.
ESG and impact investing
Asked about popular themes among clients, ESG and impact investing are obvious, although England-Brammer points in particular to the way impact investing is currently being implemented. Mostly through private investments, private equity in particular.
He said he expects a change there, with more impact investments on the public side of the market. “However, this will require progress in measuring and reporting on impact investing. Many institutional investors are still struggling with this, as there is no standardised index or benchmark. As soon as investors have a better understanding of their impact and how they can explain it to clients, they will start to change their investment behaviour.”