Cees van Lotringen

As of this week asset owners can turn to Anthos Fund & Asset Management. The asset manager places high demands on the intrinsic motivation of prospective clients, bearing in mind the original values of its owners, the Brenninkmeijer family, one of the richest in the Netherlands and well known for its C&A retail fashion chain. 

In a world where new powers, forces and risks are emerging, it is time to reset the EU’s common foreign and defence policy, says Joachim Bitterlich. Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s chief advisor talks to Investment Officer about what a lack of realpolitik brings about. “How do we ensure our economic independence in a world with challenges like China, Russia and Africa? It is about raw materials, trade relations, investments and avoiding dependencies.”

In an interview with Investment Officer, Ritesh Jain, an influential global macro strategist, trend watcher and advisor to family offices and investment companies from India, says that with Russia’s expulsion from the Swift digital payments system, the West is crossing a dangerous divide that will have far-reaching consequences for the global world order. “Globalisation, as we know it, is probably over.”

With its 1.7 billion euro acquisition of Dutch asset manager NN Investment Partners completed as of today, US investment powerhouse Goldman Sachs Asset Management takes a major strategic step towards further growth. NN IP’s full management board will continue to lead, expand its services, and will become a center of excellence for sustainability in public markets investing.

The NATO-Russia dispute over Ukraine is fought on many boards at once. In addition to the threat of a ground war, disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks are deployed. The financial sector is particularly vulnerable. Attacks on financial service providers have increased sharply during the last two years. Asset managers are far more vulnerable than they often realise.

“Never waste a good crisis” is an English expression that you can safely leave to the French and Italians. In the political “no man’s land of Christmas”, and moreover shortly after Angela Merkel stepped down as Chancellor and on the eve of the French Presidency of the European Council, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Mario Draghi chose their moment.

They fired a targeted flare into the dark December night over the European Union.

The US-British asset manager Columbia Threadneedle thinks it can significantly strengthen its position in Europe after acquiring the EMEA asset management business of Canadian firm BMO Financial Group. It provides more scale, especially in Europe and it provides many complementary strategies and products. 

As an example of the pressure put on the financial sector to respond to the urgency of climate change, Dutch education and government sector employee pension fund ABP is tightening up its investment policy. They explain this move by referring to reports on the climate crisis that have shown that it must move faster, and supporters are calling for action to be taken.

“It is no secret that we at BlackRock have embraced sustainability rather late. The turnaround came with top executive Larry Fink’s letters to shareholders about creating long-term value, then purpose, and then sustainability in 2020.

Goldman Sachs has struck a tremendous blow with its takeover of NN Investment Partners, the asset management arm of Dutch insurer NN Group, which was announced a few days ago.