Asset Managers

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s esteemed colleague at Berkshire Hathaway, passed away on Tuesday at 99, marking a significant moment in the history of corporate America and the investment world.

Berkshire Hathaway announced Munger’s peaceful passing at a California hospital. He was close to his centennial, residing in Los Angeles. Buffett, 93, credited Munger with a pivotal role in shaping Berkshire Hathaway, highlighting his involvement as fundamental to the company’s growth.

Registration levels of new Reserved Alternative Investment Funds have continued their recovery from the slowdowns in activity seen earlier this year. In October, a total of 35 new Raifs were created, according to Investment Officer’s analysis of the latest Raif registration date made available in mid-November by the Luxembourg Business Registers. 

Consolidation, regulatory risks, and the need to stay relevant to the target audience of investors and asset owners are considered as the topics that keep C-level asset managers awake at night. At the Efama conference in Brussels on Thursday, CEOs of five firms underlined the importance of adaptability, technological integration, and maintaining a clear company purpose.

Eliana de Abreu has put forward as managing director of Crédit Mutuel Asset Management, the firm’s parent company Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale has announced. Once the board has approved her appointment, De Abreu will be responsible for fund management and developing the range of investment solutions, based on an extra-financial expertise, consistent with the ambitions of a sustainable asset manager.

Although discussions about environmental and social governance, or ESG, and sustainable investing may have encountered a lull during recent weeks, investors and asset owners worldwide still consider this topic as hugely significant in their discussions with asset managers, according to one of Europe’s top chief investment officers.

Fund managers are beefing up their exchange-traded fund (ETF) ranges, to judge from a recent flurry of product launches. Luxembourg’s fund industry faces a dual threat: these ETFs launched in Ireland and are taking market share from traditional Ucits mutual funds, its core product.

Both Paris-based AXA Investment Management and Boston-based Fidelity Investments have recently launched products offering active management and research at a lower cost.

Koen Van de Maele, the new president of the Belgian Asset Manager Association, or Beama, began his career at what is now Candriam. He shared his views on the evolving sector of sustainable fund management. 

The UK’s financial supervisor still sees shortcomings in the asset management industry in regards to sustainable investment funds ahead of its publication of more stringent anti-greenwashing rules.  

European regulators, especially those in Paris and Luxembourg, are at odds over the regulatory and technical standards for the updated European Long Term Investment Funds scheme, known as Eltif 2.0, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Predicting future interest rates is a favorite activity among economists and strategists, but Dimensional Fund Advisors takes a unique stance. “Forward rates are the best guide when positioning bond portfolios for higher expected returns,” they assert, dismissing the predictions of journalists and other ECB/Fed watchers.