A Luxembourg Raif helps finance Bill Gates’ Rome hotel
A reserved alternative investment fund registered in Luxembourg turns out to have played a central role in the 165 million euro financing of the Palazzo Marini, Bill Gates’ new six-star hotel in the centre of Rome, close to the Trevi fountain. The team that supported the deal from Luxembourg was at law firm Dentons, with European Capital Partners SA as AIFM.
‘ECB puts its credibility on the line’ with record rate hike
The European Central Bank announced its biggest ever interest rate hike on Thursday. Its three key interest rates will be raised by 75 basis points in an attempt to control rapidly rising inflation in the eurozone. “The ECB has put its credibility on the line today.”
ECB to raise eurozone rates, but should it really?
Most economists, fixed income analysts and investment strategists agree that the European Central Bank on Thursday will raise interest rates. The key question is: will the hawks get their 75 basis point hike? Or will doves be heard with a 50 point increase? Some still question if hiking rates into a recession is the right thing to do.
Investor confidence at highest level since January 2021
Investor confidence in Europe jumped in August and reached its highest level since January last year, according to the latest State Street Investor Confidence Index.
The investor confidence index, or ICI, for Europe jumped 20.4 points to 106 in August. Investor confidence in North America also increased, although merely 2.1 points to 106.5. The global investor confidence index rose to 107.3 in August, up from 102.2 in July.
Luxempart acquires stake in hospital software firm Nexus
Luxempart, a Luxembourg-based investment and private equity company, on Wednesday said it has acquired a 8.4 percent stake in Nexus AG, a German-based publicly listed hospital software provider in Europe through a capital increase of 72.5 million euro.
Dividend payouts surge to record 545 billion in Q2
Dividends worldwide rose by 11.3 percent in nominal terms in the second quarter of 2022 to a historic quarterly record of 544.8 billion dollars, the latest Global Dividend Index report by Janus Henderson shows.
If the strong US dollar and other underlying factors are taken into account, underlying growth is even stronger at 19.1 percent. Some 94 percent of companies surveyed either paid out more in the second quarter or kept payouts stable.
‘Cheap money at ECB makes fighting inflation difficult’
The European Central Bank needs to review its special programmes that make available cheap money to banks in Europe in order to become more effective in fighting inflation, Banque de France governor François Villeroy de Galhau told central bankers at their meeting in Jackson Hole.
Jackson Hole shows the narrow path is narrowing
“Walking the narrow path” is an expression among central bankers about striking a fragile balance between reining in inflation and not plunging the economy into the ravine. Friday showed how difficult that task has become.
A bear market rally causes 'directionless volatility’
With stock market indicators showing rapid growth, what is happening? Is the bear market ending or is this just a regular bear market rally that will soon end? Some way we might be facing a recovery, others say that it’s just hopeless optimism.
The energy transition as a source of opportunity
Pauline Grange (Columbia Threadneedle) emphasises the opportunities that currently exist in the market to take advantage of European efforts to improve energy autonomy in Europe.