Investment Officer

Client experience is becoming a more important competitive battleground in asset management, particularly for wealth managers who face pressure to meet the needs of younger, digital native investors. Nearly 40% of asset managers in the survey said that the client experience was a key point of differentiation versus their competitors, up from just 7% a year earlier, according to a study released this week.

In a damning report unveiled this week, non-profit organisation ShareAction exposed that a mere 10 out of 77 asset managers worldwide have taken steps to limit investments in the most damaging fossil fuels across all their investment funds. The report, which delved into the practices of major global asset managers, urged the firms to urgently confront the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss by reassessing capital allocation strategies and engaging with the companies they invest in.

May saw a 6.1 percent increase in consumer prices in the EU compared to the previous year, the lowest level since February 2022 and slightly lower than economists’ predicted 6.3 percent. In the United States, inflation has now dropped below 5 percent, the lowest level in two years.

 Luxembourg investment funds experienced a slight decrease in net assets during April, reflecting market fluctuations and uncertainties. The total net assets amounted to 5,139 billion euro as of 30 April 2023, down 0.19 percent from the previous month’s figure, according to financial supervisor CSSF.

Compared to April last year, the volume of net assets has decreased by 6.17% percent.

FundRock Management Company, a unit of Apex Group, has been appointed by Partners Capital to provide ManCo services for their flagship fund.  FundRock will provide ManCo services for Partners Capital’s flagship fund, the Master Portfolio C fund, following their support during the fund’s re-domiciliation to Luxembourg last October.

European investors, mostly hailing from the Netherlands, find themselves increasingly exasperated as several Anglo-Saxon asset managers prioritise financial returns over the critical energy transition within oil and gas companies. This growing trend became starkly evident during recent shareholder meetings held by energy giants BP in late April and Shell in late May.

Apex Group said it has appointed Samir Pandiri to the newly created role of Group President and Member of the Executive Committee, to support and drive the business’ sustained growth.

Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a significant correlation between ChatGPT’s assessment of headlines, and the subsequent daily returns of the stocks studied.

The researchers used ChatGPT to indicate whether a particular headline contained good, bad or irrelevant news for companies’ stock prices.  The study shows a positive correlation between ChatGPT’s sentiment analysis, and subsequent daily stock market returns.

Michael Reinhard has decided to step down as chief executive officer at Frankfurt-headquartered Universal Investment Group, a leading management company in Luxembourg. Until a successor is appointed he will be replaced by David Blumer, who joined UI as non-executive chair last year.

The market is expecting a 75 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve after a six-month pause. According to Invesco, the likelihood of that happening is much lower than the market thinks. This is good news for emerging markets, said Wim Vandenhoeck, senior portfolio manager for EMD and global bonds.