Vanguard Group, the second largest asset manager in the world, plans to open a new office in Miami to serve clients in Latin America who want to transfer part, or all, of their assets. property abroad.
The company will rent an office in 2024, while managing the rest of this year with a combination of shared space and remote work for the two people already running the Miami operations, Juan Hernández, the head of Vanguard in Latin America, said in an interview in Mexico City.
Historically, wealthy Latin Americans have kept some assets in their own country and others abroad as part of a diversification strategy against political and economic volatility, Hernández said. However, The ability to hold money abroad used to be limited to the wealthiest people, who often had accounts in places like Switzerland.said.
“In recent years we have seen the position of the United States very well,” he said. “There are regulatory changes that make it easier, especially from a tax point of view, for non-resident accounts, and “Technology allows more intermediaries to offer accounts to people with low balances.”
How to protect and expand wealth conservatively
The Vanguard business in Miami will exclusively serve financial intermediaries such as stockbrokers, family offices and advisors who work for individuals, explained Hernández. He estimated that the office will start operations with about 30 clients, each of whom will manage in between US$10 and US$50 million.
Miami “has become the center of wealth management for Latin America,” he said, followed by Houston and New York. Hernández expects the Miami office to have a team of 10 people in the short term.
Center of wealth
Around the world, Vanguard manages more than US$7.6 trillion in assets, of which nearly US$50 billion corresponds to Latin America., according to Hernandez. Its business in the region is evenly split between institutional investors and intermediaries, he said.
“Mexico is our most important market, Then we have a strong institutional business in Chile, Colombia and Peru,” said Hernández.
While many Mexican investors park their money in government bonds known as Cetes that pay around 11%, Vanguard’s study of long-term investments for institutional clients means that the company has grown “somewhat” this year, he said.
The company works with Mexico’s main pension fund, known as Afores.
“We want the Mexican stock market to be bigger and more dynamic,” said. “We are an important player as buyers and we want to be more involved.”
