Diversions April 11, 2013

What Would James Bond Drive?

Move over, Italy. British car brands are the top dream cars for most people, a survey found.
Reported by

Future Drive Motor Show’s survey—which asked, “If money was no object, which car brand would you like to see in your garage?”—revealed that four of the top 10 desired brands are made in the U.K.: Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar and McLaren.

Rounding out the list were the three Italian brands Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati, and the three German brands Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi.

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“The glamour and desirability of our iconic brands seems to grow,” said Giles Brown, managing director of Future Drive Motor Show. “Ingrained in our minds are the Bentley Boys and the James Bond Aston Martins.” The reputed most desirable car in the world is the Jaguar E-Type, according to Brown, and the McLaren, which he terms “the new boy on the block,” needs no introduction. (For those who do, it’s a British Formula One racecar.)

Many of the popular brands also have new models: the McLaren P1; the Aston Martin Vanquish; the Jaguar F-Type; and Bentley’s latest Continental GT Speed coupe and convertible. Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati also all have new models, as do the German Audi and Mercedes-Benz brands.

Deals & People April 10, 2013

Mirae Adds Sales and Distribution Hires

Efrain Fernandez, Antonio Lopez and Monique France have been named to the sales and distribution team of Mirae Asset Global Investments.
Reported by

Fernandez brings investment analysis and sales experience to his new role as an emerging market specialist wholesaler covering New York and Connecticut. He was previously at Prudential Investments, where he served as a regional wholesaler. Prior to that, he was an internal wholesaler/regional wholesaler at Alliance Capital Management. 

Lopez  also joins Mirae as emerging market specialist wholesaler, a newly created position covering Florida and the Southeast. Previously, he was a sales consultant at MainStay Investments/New York Life. Prior to that, he was an internal wholesaler at AIG Asset Management and a personal banker at JPMorgan Chase. He is fluent in Spanish.

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France comes to Mirae from Morgan Stanley, where she served as executive director of Asian research sales in the international equity division. Before that, she was vice president of Asian research sales, based in London. France’s role at Mirae is the newly created position of client portfolio manager, working with the investment and sales teams. One of her tasks is to explain and position Mirae Asset’s investment strategies to advisers and fund analysts. She is fluent in Chinese and holds the CFA designation.

The three new hires will report to Robert P. Mulligan, president, and head of sales and distribution.

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