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Social responsibility, sustainability, ESG and SRI are more than buzzwords for the world’s leading pension funds. While some still question the current classifications, taxonomies and regulatory timelines, many of these major institutional investors see it as a way to provide stewardship, being a long-term stakeholder in society. “So are we going to be good ancestors? Or not?”

Barely seven of the first 35 companies in the US S&P 500 index to release their second-quarter results subsequently have raised their earnings per share forecast for the third quarter. Are earnings expectations and analysts still too optimistic?

Some 77 percent of those companies saw their Q3 2022 expectations revised downwards. The average estimated change is -3.0 percent, according to The Earnings Scout. 

Ratings agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed  its assessment of Luxembourg’s government debt with a ‘AAA’ rating and a stable outlook.

The eurozone looks increasingly weak. The euro slipped to parity with the dollar last week and a peripheral debt crisis threatens if interest rates rise sharply. With Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s departure announced on Thursday, the stability of the euro is anything but certain.

Germany has unexpectedly reported its first trade deficit since 1991. The reversal of the trade balance in Europe’s largest economy shows how difficult it is for German companies to handle rising costs of oil and gas. Economists at ABN Amro and Nomura meanwhile expect Europe will enter into a recession.

US asset manager Columbia Threadneedle on Monday said it has completed the rebranding of the European activities of BMO Global Asset Management, bringing its products and savings plans together under a single brand.

The sustainable fund market in Luxembourg and other European fund domiciles has continued its strong growth of recent years, but the short-term impact of the Ukraine war has already disrupted the move to a green future. Still, positive developments are expected in the longer term.  The latest updates were set out in the 2022 edition of the European Sustainable Investment Funds Study by Zeb and Morningstar on behalf of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry.

Green securitisation is struggling to find a foothold, it became clear at a recent LuxCMA conference. With no regulation or framework defining what “green securitisation” is or can be, Luxembourg-based advocates are looking at international practices and evaluating how European financial legislation can be adapted. 

The US central bank on Wednesday evening announced t that it would raise the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to cushion rising inflation. Earlier this week, the Fed already indicated to markets that it would do so. Economists and analysts last week were still expecting a 50 bp increase. The bigger-than-expected hike increases the chances of a recession in the United States.

Assets worth over 200 million euros stored at Luxembourg’s freeport, formally known as  High-Security Hub, have been frozen as part of the EU sanctions against Russia, Luxembourg finance minister Yuriko Backes has told parliament. This follows the 4.3 billion euros in frozen Russian-linked assets that were announced by the ministry of finance last week.