Latin America’s wealthiest investors are bringing their fortunes to Miami in the fastest time in history, some fleeing the region’s turmoil and others attracted by higher yields than back home.
For JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Brazil’s largest banks, the outflow has led to growth in assets and customers. Not so much with Morgan Stanley.
At JPMorgan, assets under management in Miami for Mexican clients alone grew about 10% this year, with similar increases in Argentina, Chile, Peru and other Latin American countries, the company said.
“Our growth here in Miami has been incredible,” Maris Brown, head of Mexico private banking for the New York-based firm, said in an interview. “It’s been really hard in terms of talent to bring people to Miami, but now post-pandemic it’s the other way around,” he said, adding that the bank will increase its Mexican-only workforce by 10% this year. The company added that it has hired enough new talent to bring its total workforce to about 120.
JPMorgan oversees approximately $180 billion in flows from the region, which are managed from booking centers in Miami, Houston, New York and Geneva. As investors move their fortunes, the Wall Street firm plans to expand its Latin American private banking operations to another floor of its Miami building at 1450 Brickell Avenue.
Brazil’s big banks are also joining in on the boom. Banco Bradesco SA increased its workforce in the Miami area from 190 to 230 after acquiring the Coral Gables bank in 2019. The total amount of assets held in Florida has doubled since 2019 to $4 billion.
Additionally, São Paulo-based Itau Unibanco Holding SA’s assets under management in the city rose by about 10% this year to about $24 billion. The bank opened more than 1,000 accounts there in 2023. It also hired Fernando Marquez from Pictet Bank SA in Zurich and transferred him to Miami this month to head private banking sales in the city.
Morgan Stanley is an exception. The Wall Street giant is seeking to protect its Miami customers and banks as the Federal Reserve reviews the company’s measures to prevent potential money laundering by wealthy customers outside the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. I’m losing my home. The company closed some accounts and stopped opening new ones for customers in Latin America, the people said, asking to remain anonymous about their personal information.
Morgan Stanley is also changing its policies regarding these clients. Starting in the second half of 2024, the account minimum required for customers in Panama and Bolivia will increase from $2 million to $10 million, officials said. The bank will no longer open new accounts for people in Venezuela and Nicaragua, although the minimum amount will be cut in half to $1 million for customers in markets such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico, the people said.
A Morgan Stanley spokesperson confirmed changes to account minimums and said the bank remains “committed” to its international wealth business, but has developed a targeted client model that “reflects appropriate risk considerations.” He said he did.
JPMorgan’s Mr. Brown said many investors are seeking dollar-denominated corporate bonds and U.S. Treasuries because U.S. interest rates remain high and the Fed is likely to begin lowering interest rates soon. Stated. Private sector credit is also attracting attention.
JPMorgan’s team in Miami, which specializes in clients in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, has expanded by about 10% this year to 70%, said Ezequiel Lazcano, head of private banking Latin America at JPMorgan. He became a person. JPMorgan focuses on Latin American clients who invest approximately $10 million or more with the company.
“We have seen a significant geographic reallocation of portfolios to Miami related to the fact that our clients find more attractive opportunities to grow their wealth in the United States than in some countries. “Lazcano said.
Another factor driving Miami’s move is the shift to left-wing governments in Chile, Peru and Colombia, as investors look for safe havens, said Carlos Gribel, president of AndBank brokerage Miami. It is said to have caused a flight of capital from these countries. AndBank attracts $150 million in annual inflows to its $1.4 billion in assets under management in Miami, the majority of which come from these countries.
“While movements from Brazilians have been slow due to high local interest rates and a stable political situation, a comparison with past outflows shows that the proportion of offshore investments in portfolios has also increased,” Gribel said. said.
For other banks, demand from Brazilians has been extraordinary.
Fernando Beilti, global head of private banking at Itaú, Brazil’s largest onshore market, said: “This year has been the most active year in our company’s history in terms of clients converting currencies for overseas investments. It was one,” he said.
Percy Moreira, head of international private banking at Itaú, said the bank was seeing “a crazy demand from customers looking to diversify their investments globally, mainly now that interest rates outside Brazil have risen slightly. ” he said.
Enrique Lima, chief executive officer of Bradesco Bank, said Bradesco has a $2.3 billion mortgage portfolio and is Florida’s leading bank in the U.S. nonresident real estate financing business. .
“We will continue to grow this business, which is highly profitable and has a near-zero delinquency rate,” Lima said. “The local crisis in Latin America has caused this type of financing to become more difficult as the Miami market is still booming and many people prefer to take their money out of the country and invest it in something as solid as a brick in the United States. contributing to an increase in
Residential property located in the Brickell area of Miami. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg)
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