Raymond Frenken

Once seen as compliance or ideology, ESG is becoming part of ordinary risk management. Interviews with asset owners, managers and analysts in Amsterdam, the UK and the Netherlands show how sustainability is increasingly embedded in long term investment strategies.

The United Kingdom’s new ESG fund labels have struggled to gain traction. As Brussels prepares an overhaul of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), a senior Morningstar expert warns Europe not to copy London’s model.

With the euro expected to strengthen further, portfolio strategies are increasingly being shaped by how much, not whether, to hedge U.S. exposures.

Europe’s pensions supervisor is relaunching the failed Pan-European Personal Pension Product under a new label, EuroPension. Critics warn the project risks repeating past mistakes: too complex to compete with low-cost ETFs, too weak to rival national schemes, and too focused on capital markets at the expense of statutory pensions.

German retail investors put nearly all equity fund inflows into exchange-traded funds in the first half of the year, cementing the country’s role as Europe’s largest ETF market.

France’s government is adrift after Bayrou’s resignation, yet its bonds still draw buyers. Investors point to global tailwinds and deep liquidity, but warn that if sentiment turns, France could be hit harder than its peers.

Robinhood, the Silicon Valley-based brokerage known for disrupting Wall Street with zero-commission trading and meme-stock mania, is making a bold play for Europe. Its strategy? Rewire equity markets using blockchain.

Amundi COO Guillaume Lesage, in an interview, reveals how Alto is trying to break Aladdin’s spell, offering a European SaaS alternative in portfolio management tech.

Artificial intelligence is still at the beginning of its growth curve, but both the infrastructure and the valuations behind the boom show signs of strain. For investors, the opportunity is undeniable, yet so are the risks.

This week’s overview of people transfers and appointments includes updates from Allianz Global Investors, A&O Shearman, State Street, Titanbay, and other firms.